The Queenstrial
by thesparklingjewel
Summary: Rebels have gone rogue in Illea growing more and more violent by the day. Prince Percival is faced with yet another Selection after the Selected die in a tragically devastating attack on the palace. Armed with scars he is forced to heal and a plan that will change the fate of every Selected,Percival is determined to finish his Selection. (SYOC Closed)
1. Chapter 1

He remembers the smell of her perfume, the way the scent of lavender wafted through her room. The way she loved pastel pink so much that she wore the color all the time. The color of her hazel eyes, the way her eyes just had enough green to remind him of the flower fields he took her to. Zam, she was a florist from Atlin, and the girl he was about to propose to among the remaining three selected girls left.

He dreams of her smile, she was so liked by the two other girls. He dreams of the day he realized he was in love with her after she began singing a tune from an ancient movie. Her tune cut off by the sound of the windows breaking. The smell of gun fire urging them to escape to one of the panic rooms. The events of the day all remembered like the color of the water he used to clean his brushes, dark and mucky. He sees a glimpse of a rebel with a gun in one of the hidden passages, aiming at him. Luckily his aim was bad and only shot him somewhere above his shoulder as he shielded her and took out the pistol he always carried around in case of attacks like these and shot the rebel.

Zam proceeded to take out the standardized survival knife from it's hilt on her thigh. All the Selected were given those knives and trained to protect themselves during their stay in the palace, all for situations like these. He remembers taking her free hand with his as they ran down to the safe room beside the kitchens when he opened the secret passage just enough to look, all he heard was gun fire and screaming and the sight of blood on the kitchen floor. He closed the passage's door right away as he dragged Zam upwards to the door of his room's secret passage. As they reached his room with not a person invading his room, he took her through the room and into the connecting princess suite and into another secret passage and headed into one of the smaller safe rooms in the palace. A bullet then grazes Zam's arm as she shrieks, five rebels several hundred feet behind them shooting at the perpendicular hallway.

He shields Zam yet again as he shoots at the rebels behind them as he urges Zam ahead towards the safe room, taking a look behind them every moment or so to shoot the rebels. One, goes down along with two others as some of the guards staged on the floor shoot at them. They reach the safe room and he's using his code on the door while he's shooting at the two remaining rebels also shooting at them. The door opens and he's bringing Zam inside as he closes the door and locks it from his side. He looks for the first aid kit and applies some antiseptic on the bullet wound Zam sustained on her arm and wraps it with a gauge, and she leans against him and she sings and he hums along for hours as he leans against her as well, still smelling the scent of lavender in her hair. They stay there in the room for God knows how long until the door is opened by two guards with their override codes and they escort him and Zam into the hallway.

The guards are in a formation around them as the two of them walk side by side until they reach the front of the palace's service elevator and that's when he hears the click of a gun behind him and the words "Kingdom Come Razed" and it fires and he closes his eyes only to realize he was unscathed. He looked beside him and saw Zam, her hand bloodied as she holds her side, red blooming on her blush pink dress. _She took the bullet for him._ The assailant brought to the ground by the other guards as Zam falls to the ground and he rushes to her, cradling her as her breathing begins to get shallow.

"Civ, Remember what I always sing?" she said. He nodded, understanding the message. _The greatest you'll ever learn is to love and to be loved in return._

"Zam, rip my heart out why don't you?" he replied as she smiled back understanding his message. _I love you._

"I know." she breathes back and she closes her eyes, smiling.

* * *

His dreams are haunted by his last moments with her and he awakens with a jolt every time as one of his butlers shakes him out of it. He looks around his room and it's the middle of the day. His mother stands on the side of his bed in her full regalia looking down at him with an expression that's a mix of sympathy and anguish.

"Percival, I want you downstairs by my study so we can discuss some things." her royal highness, Queen Hanna Beth says, her dark eyes rimmed with sharp eye liner contrasting her alabaster skin. She turns her back to him and heads for the door "It's been a year and a half, Percival., we must move on." she adds as she leaves the room.

Percival looked up at the ceiling, staring at it. _A year and a half_ after the devastating rebel attack. After half the palace was destroyed by a bomb and they had moved to one of their smaller estates for a year. After he buried Zam back in Atlin, making sure her grave site was filled with thousands of flowers. She was declared as a national hero for saving his life, but what could that do for a girl buried six feet below the ground.

After he buried his father and younger brother and the two other remaining Selected in the palace: Linda, a beautiful five who loved to paint, and Christine, a two whose father was one of the Queen's advisers. All of them victims of the bomb that killed them when they were rushing to the biggest panic room.

He sat up and told his butler to prepare his bath, knowing that his mother was right. Zamantha Rene Normandy was long gone, and she was never coming back.

* * *

"Percival, since the events last year, our country's morale has been low." his mother stated, her desk full of paperwork. "You're already 21 years old and supposed to assume my throne." she continued, her eyes leaving the paper she was reading and looking right at Percy. "And since your Selection was never completed, I believe it's time that you will fulfill your duty as prince and future king of this country yet again, and have another Selection."

It's funny how he wasn't even surprised at his mother's notion. He could lie and put on a face of defiance, proclaiming that he would not but Percival is tired of the fight, and he nodded his head, his lips pressed together in a line. "I accept that notion, and am willing to hold another Selection, mother." his cognac colored eyes steeling with a look of determination. He was going to be king, a king that Zam would have wanted him to be, and if it took marrying another girl, so be it.

"We will ensure the safety of the girls and push our security further." Queen Hanna Beth declared.

"And how will that be done, mother?" Percival said, an eyebrow raised.

"We will not only train them to be your future wife. We are going to train them to be weapons. We will not only choose a girl that will bring the next generation of Schreave-Lombards but the one that can protect you. A weapon to protect our crown."

* * *

 **A/N:** Hello everyone! This is my first Selection SYOC fanfiction and am extremely excited to be writing one as I've seen a lot of them in the fandom. Anyway, I am quite elated to be presenting to you my characters and my story. Please forgive me as I haven't written in quite a while, so yeah.

I'm pleased to introduce to you, two of the main characters : Queen Hanna Beth Schreave and Prince Percival Finnley Lombard. However they aren't the only members of the Royal Court I'll be featuring but we will meet several interesting characters along the way.

Anyway, these are the rules for this Selection:

1\. Mary Sues and America Copies are really not allowed, I know the people here in this fandom are really creative so let's see those amazing girls you got there!

2\. I don't mind if you send in a girl you've sent to another SYOC, but please change some parts of her.

3\. D-I-V-E-R-S-I-T-Y ! I cannot stress this enough. I've noticed that most SYOCs usually featured a lot of white girls and frankly, let's not make this story like a Starbucks. Illea is based on the US of A, it's a melting pot of cultures and not only of culture but also of personality. Let me see girls who have come from Filipino families who misses home and constantly loves to cook Pinoy cuisine! Or a girl from a Arabic family that wants her to follow their tradition and she covers herself from head to toe! I'd love to have girls like that!

4\. I'll only be Selecting 6 girls to have a main POV however, I'll be accepting another six to be supporting and be occasionally featured.

5\. Please send your girls to me through PM, however reviews will be counted depending on the strength of the form.

6\. Please title your PMs like "The Queenstrial SYOC (Full Name of Character,Age, Caste, Occupation,Province)" in that format. Ex. "The Queenstrial SYOC (Zamantha Rene Normandy, 19, Caste 6, Florist, Atlin)"

The Form is posted in my profile :), Have fun submitting!


	2. Chapter 2

**Percival Lombard's POV**

"As you can see, your highness" Quin had gestured to the board, " we will be using the same color scheme for the Selected's rooms."

"I don't see why not, Quincy" Percy had nodded along, hand propped up on the table, supporting his head. Percy had been staring at Quincy's board of designs and ideas for the Selection for the past 10 minutes, and well he'd never felt so bored by _a board_. The rooms would be painted an off white color Quincy called _cornsilk._ How did it even resemble the color of corn? Percy would never know.

Quincy continued, his red laser pointer bringing Percy's attention to the accents of the room while one of the maids handed Percy a swatch of colors; all of which had different names and its corresponding use, _Cornsilk for the walls, Blanched Almond (Isn't that a dessert?) for the curtains, Linen (Is this even a real color?) for the linen (surprise, surprise), and Seashell for the side table._ In Percy's honest opinion? He couldn't tell the difference of every color presented to him on the swatch, as to him, every color looked the same- like the color of sand.

"We'll be using golden accents here and there to give the room a little sparkle," Quincy said as two other maids had brought in several golden pieces along with a cream colored skirt with gold lining and a comforter with similar gold lining as the skirt. Percy nodded along, trying to look impressed as he thumbed the silky comforter.

"As for dinners and such, Han has yet to give me a planned menu for the Selection, but do not worry!" Quincy said, putting down his laser pointer on the table. "It shall be finished no later than a week before your Selected arrive."

"What about the staff? Are we still having a shortage on staff?" Percy asked.

"We are currently offering jobs to some sixes who work as seamstresses in some of the less fortunate parts of Angeles." Quincy assured with a nod.

"Is there anything else-" Percy was interrupted by a blonde young man, with the most age defying face one could ever possess bursting through the door. With his bright wide brown eyes, his toothy grin, and his noticeably shorter stature (okay, not really that short, but Percy had an entire foot over him), it could be no one less than Patrick Mcdonough, the Scottish ambassador of Illea.

"Percy! There ye are! Huvnae ye heard?" Patrick said, giving Percy a light slap on the back. "Our good old cousin Miranda has finally arrived from Aussie!" Patrick grinned.

"I thought she was arriving tomorrow." Percy interjected, trying to recall what Miranda had told him the week before.

 _I'll be arriving on the 27_ _th_ , she said, and it currently was the 26th.

"Your highness- Can we please continue this meeting" Quincy interrupted with an audible gulp, a little bit fearful of disrespecting the Prince of Illea or th Scottish Ambassador.

"She probably meant the 27th back in Aussie." Patrick chuckled. "I know yer hoachin' and all, but let's have this little reunion among us three."

"A little reunion you say?" A flash of red hair appeared by the door as Miranda Lombard had - in the very simplest term- strutted into the meeting room in a pair of dark sunglasses while carrying a purse with the smallest dog Percy has ever seen. Miranda smiled widely as she hugged both of her cousins, and proceeded to squeal at the sight of Quincy's board.

"Are you designing the Selecteds' rooms?" Miranda asked, hand lightly grazing the board full of fabrics, colors, and patterns that were the least of his concerns.

"Actually, " Percy paused as he gestured over to Quincy. "Quincy, over here has just presented to me a few details."

"Oh, I love the use of Ochre and Cornsilk! Just a darling combination, very very posh." Miranda exclaimed as she proceeded to look at the swatches that were on the table. "Of course, with my interior designing background, have you thought of adding any brown or earthy pieces into the room?" she asked.

"Didnae ye drop out of interior designing school?" Patrick said, with a bit of humor in his tone.

"That's not important," Miranda brushed off, though her porcelain skin began to blush. "what's important is that I have great taste."

"Sure, ye do. Remember that one time in one of those after parties with the newspaper, and the leaves, and the tape?" Patrick said sarcastically.

"Yesterday's news! My time in Australia has introduced me to better interests." Miranda scoffed.

"Yeah, like a certain Mr. Sinclair." Patrick teased.

"Hey, I have a joke! Why does Prince Sinclair need glasses? Cause he can't _sinclairly_!" Patrick bursted into laughter as Percy joined in the laughter.

"Ummm, your highness? And your Ambassadorness?" Quincy interrupted the banter.

Percy cleared his throat, as his grin morphed into a line on his lips. "Yes, Miranda, thank you for coming here in Illea to assist me in training the Selected for the Royal Court, and I understand that you've had quite the trip and are possibly jet-lagged. If Patrick here were to lead you to your room, I believe you'll get the rest you need." Percy said as he straightened his back, making him seem so much taller than his 6 foot and 6 inch frame.

"Thank you, Prince Percival for having me here for the duration of your Selection." Miranda replied as she grabbed Patrick's arm and dragged him out of the room.

"Prince Percival, was that who I think that was?" Quincy had asked, as he gathered the swatches in his hand.

"Yes, my cousin, Miranda," Percy paused , "or as most of the world knows her as Duchess Miranda Lombard of Cambridge." Percy nodded ahead, trying to ignore the sound of Patrick's distant laughter in the hallway.

* * *

 **Miranda Lombard's POV**

Words couldn't explain the melancholy Miranda experienced when she was walking down the Illean palace's hallway on the third floor. To Miranda, the Illean palace was more home to her than Buckingham or the Cambridge estate. Heck, Hanna Beth and Elsa were more mothers to her than her own. Memories of her living in Illea as a child, growing up with Percy and Patrick, breaking the occasional vase, all making Miranda smile just a little.

She strolled down the hall to the women's room, where she heard the sound of piano playing, to see the sight of her Aunt Elsa- or formally known as Princess-Consort Elsa Schreave- playing the piano in a blue wrap dress.

Her Aunt Elsa was never one who enjoyed the formalities of Royal life though it was thrust upon her the day she was born as the Princess of France. Lucky for Elsa, she was the youngest in the family and never really had the responsibility to be Queen of France, allowing Elsa to pursue her own passion for music and the fine arts.

Miranda admired Elsa endearingly for her grace, even after she and her aunt Hanna Beth had revealed that they were a couple even before Hanna Beth had to marry her uncle-Percy's father- out of alliance and the continuation of the Schreave line. When people questioned Elsa for staying in the palace as Hanna Beth's paramour, she all took it all in stride- and in Chanel, of course.

Elsa's green eyes lit up as her hands stopped playing the piano. "Miranda,cheri!" she exclaimed, as she stood from the piano's seat to embrace Miranda in a tight hug. "I heard you were coming here tomorrow!"

"I meant tomorrow in Australian standards, Auntie!" Miranda said noting the difference of height she and her aunt had, the last time she was here, they were exactly the same height and now, Miranda could see the top of Elsa's head. She couldn't have been gone that long, right?

"You've been gone for too long, Randy! Spending all your time with the Prime Minister's son!" Elsa joked as she offered Miranda a seat on one of the couches.

"Don't worry," Miranda assured as she took a seat on the couch, " I'll be spending quite some time here in Illea. I feel so sorry, for not being able to see Percy's First Selection."

"Oh, a lot of the girls were lovely, especially Zamantha, she was a gem." Elsa replied. "Would you care for some tea?" she offered.

"I haven't heard much of Zamantha," Miranda shrugged, "but from what Patrick told me, Percy was head over heels for her."

"He was, I thought she was going to be the one to win-"

"Until the rebel attack?" Miranda interjected.

"Yes, and now Percy has to go through the Selection process all over again." Elsa replied.

"That's why I came back here, he needs the emotional support." Miranda stated.

"Look at the time! It's almost time for dinner!" Elsa noted, taking a look at her watch.

"Would you like to go to the dining hall with me or are you resting back in your room?" she added along as she stood up, smoothing her dress.

"I'd love to have dinner with you, Aunt Elsa," Miranda replied with a smile as she stood up from the couch, "I'm dying to have some diet endangering Illean food!"

* * *

A/N: Heeeeeyyyy Guys! It's sparky, back at it again with writing another chapter. If some of you don't know, I usually write status updates for the story on my profile and some info regarding the fic like whether or not I'm writing updates and stuff (yessss, by stuff I mean the pinterest boards which you can see in my profile : thesparklyjewel or you can use the link : "tinyurl dot com slash queenstrial" for bonus content and story references. )

I'd like to thank all of you for your support for this fanfic whether it be through submitting a Selected, a follow/favorite, or even through review writing! I didn't expect that my little story would catch on so much! So thank you all! If I could bake you all cookies, I would~ so virtual cookies for all of you!

So we meet four new characters in this chapter! Miranda, Percy's cousin from England and Duchess of Cambridge, Elsa, former Princess of France and current Princess of Illea, Quincy, the head of planning for the Selection, and Patrick, the Scottish Ambassdor!

Here's a quick Lexicon for Patrick's speech as he so often speaks in Scottish slang:

ye- you

yer-your

huvnae- haven't

didnae-didn't

hoachin' - very busy

Thank you for reading this fic, and I'm almost going to close the submissions soon since I've received a lot of characters that would make my decision making harder than I expected. So to any of my possibly new readers, please submit your characters in soon~ :)

Tell me what you guys think of Elsa and the rest of our new characters in your reviews? Were you guys surprised to find that Hanna Beth and Elsa are married? Let me know what you think~!

~*Sparky out*~


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Okay, I kinda forgot to do this when I posted Chapter 2 so I am here to atone for my forgetfulness so heeeere weeee gooooo (warning this A/N is kinda long, but so is this Chapter so pleaaase bear with me :3):**

 **I'd like to thank the following people for favoriting the story: CoolFortheSummer, GiigleGurl, GreenWithAwesome, JasmineTheFangirl, NewKindofCinderella, New Prussia, TheGirlWithTheRainbowTattoo, UnderTheCandyStarlight, ravenclawgirl22, and wazowskis! Thank you for fav-ing it guys!**

 **I'd also like to thank the following people for following the story: Cookiedoodles168,CoolFortheSummer, Fryllabrille201, GiigleGurl, GreenWithAwesome, Headless Gummy Bear, Hikaru Leach, NewKindofCinderella, Of Darkness and of Light, Ruby Casablanca, Starlighte Silverdust, TheGirlWithTheRainbowTattoo, UltimateMaxmericaShipper, Yonna9queen, fivesauce'n'YAbooks, and morethanjustastory! Thank you guys, I really didn't expect this kind of turnout so thank you thank you thank you!**

 **I'd also also like to thank the following for reviewing the story: Yonna9queen (for reviewing twice~!), stargirlhorse, UltimateMaxmericaShipper (Thank you so much for the critique on the grammar too!) , wolfofstark (Thank you for both very very enthusiastic reviews, and yessss there will be more puns in this story bwahahahahaha), GreenWithAwesome (for the best reviews, especially with the critiques you always write down! They're life savers and I'm letting you know that I really take your critiques into account! So Thanks, they're definitely a huge help!), Thedaffodilqueen (who submitted Isadora~!), CoolFortheSummer, morethanjustastory, princessgothicfull (who submitted Daniela~!) and fivesauce'n'YAbooks for both reviews!**

 **Okay so I'm super sorry for the long Author's Note, so now... Onwards to the introduction of our first two main characters! Daniela (submitted by princessgothicfull) and Isadora (submitted by Thedaffodilqueen) ! Enjoy! I hope I did these girls some justice~!**

* * *

 **Daniela Fernanda Cortéz, 18, Caste 3, Panama, Librarian**

"Excuse me, but where could I find a copy of Moby Dick?" a little girl who as no taller than her desk asked.

"Hi there, so the fiction part of the library is arranged into different categories, so you'd want to go to the classics part," Daniela said as she leaned over a little to get a clearer view of the girl. It was one of her usual visitors here, a six year old girl named Tilda.

"Actually, I think you need some help getting it, I think I arranged it somewhere on the higher part of the shelf." Daniela added, as she went down from her elevated desk, and guided Tilda down the library towards the Classics section. The library was quite large in Illean standards-especially since it was the largest in the province, Tilda dwarfed in size compared to some of the older shelves.

"So you're reading Moby Dick now, huh?" Daniela asked, curious at the little girl who came to her family's library on a daily basis.

"Yeap, I just finished reading Tom Sawyer yesterday, and in the recommended book section suggested Moby Dick." Tilda replied , as they reached the classics section.

"Well, that's good considering that you've borrowed and read all the books in our kid's section." Daniela said as she rolled the ladder down the shelf and climbed up to reach the M-section for Melville.

"Dani," Tilda paused, "what's your favorite classic here?"

Daniela stopped and considered it, thinking of her favorite classic. She knew she had always loved fairytales as a child, even now, always opting to read a story that twists fairytales into different settings.

"That's a little hard, Tilda," Daniela reached for Moby Dick and climbed the ladder down, "but I think that one of my favorites here is A Compilation by the Brothers Grimm."

"You mean those fairy tales for kids?" Tilda asked as she took the book from Daniela's offering hand.

"Yeah, most stories are technically based on those old stories. A golden son falls in love with a common girl, daring fights, a prince in disguise..." Daniela thought of all the books she had read that had similar elements.

"Could you find me that book you told me about?" Tilda said, her eyes a little brighter.

"The Brother's Grimm compilation? I think it just got returned today, so I have to check the front desk. Come on Tilda." Daniela replied as she went to her desk to look for the book.

"Did you hear that the Prince is having another Selection?" Tilda asked, looking a little mischievous.

Daniela remembered hearing it on the report a few days back, the royal family all seated beside each other- including the addition of the Prince's cousin from England. Sophronisca Prada, the hostess of the report-with her easy going personality, had been building it up by pretending it was just a regular Report, until the Prince was called upon to give a few updates about the nation- about the financial status, how we've almost paid our way out of national debt (which honestly bored Daniela, since those numbers never were of her interests), and was almost cut off by Sophronisca until he had said it- the announcement of another Selection.

"Yeah, heard it on the report." Daniela answered as she looked for the copy of the Brothers Grimm compilation. Daniela had already received her form the day before right there in the library, it was somewhere inside her desk's drawer.

"My sister told me that she's going to apply for it, said it was her chance to become a princess like in the fairytales." Tilda snickered. "Are you going to enter?"

Daniela stopped for a while and considered it, being like a princess in one of those fairy tales : swept away by a prince on a noble steed, awoken from a cursed slumber by one kiss, searched for throughout the entire kingdom by a prince.

She thought about it the last time- about entering the first Selection the Prince had, but she was only 16 at the time, and felt too young to enter such a competition, though she was thankful that she was spared the horror of what could have been her fate if she had been Selected and made it to the Elite.

"Maybe I will," Daniela said, as she browsed the returned books on her desk until she found a brown and gold spine that read "The Tales of the Brothers Grimm" and checked its back to see if she already noted that it was returned on time. "Well, found your book, want me to check it out with Moby Dick?" she asked.

"Yes, thank you." Tilda was practically jumping with glee, "I think you'd be a nice princess, Dani." she added as she handed Daniela her library card and the copy of Moby Dick.

"Slow down there kid, I haven't even applied for it yet." as she scanned the books and eyed the slightly opened drawer with her Selection form. Maybe she could give this fairy tale a chance.

* * *

 **Isadora Fanchon LaRoux, 18, Caste 7, Paloma, Construction Worker**

"Hey, dad, do you think I should include 'French-Creole' in the languages spoken part of the form?" Isadora asked as she sat down on one of their seats, twirling a pen in her hand as she was filling her form out for the Selection.

"Do they even ask you to prove that you speak the languages you write there?" Calder, her brother, asked as he got ready for work.

"Imagine them asking Isa to speak in Creole!" her father-Pierre- laughed, slapping his knee.

"You do suck at speakin' Creole, Isa." Calder laughed along, as Isa joined in the laughter.

"But, it's the thought that matters! I mean, it _is_ a language I speak." she replied as she wrote down French-Creole along with English, Spanish, and French, most of those languages learned from her very encouraged French-Creole heritage, as her father always told her : "Yon sèl lang se janm ase" - rougly translating to "one language is never enough".

"Did you write 'cooking the best jambalaya in Illea' as a special skill?" Calder asked, as he leaned over reading over her form.

"Just 'cooking and knitting' Calds, and that's about it." Isadora said, as she reviewed her form. Her full name- Isadora Fanchon LaRoux, her height and weight-6'3" and 134 lbs (well, the last time she checked), hair and eye color- both brown, languages spoken, and her special skills.

"Gotta go to work now, they asked me to come to work early today- maybe for a promotion." Calder said as he walked towards the door, giving a pat on the back to both Isadora and their father, giving one last smile before being gone from their sight.

"I think you've got a good chance of getting Selected this time, darlin'." her father said as he kissed the top of her head.

"And I think I've got to go to work now, gotta go to the hall and submit this application." Isadora said as she stood up and straightened her blue long sleeved shirt and attempted to fix her hair-which already started frizz due to the heat outside their home , by putting some purple hibiscus flowers in it.

"Le monstre frisottis lavi! (the frizz monster lives!)" Isadora joked around referring to her hair in French - the frizz monster she called herself.

Her father bellowed in laughter as he smiled and corrected her french "Le monstre de frissotis est vivant! You mixed up French-Creole and French again, Isa!" he laughed.

"It's the thought that counts," she said as she took the form from the table as she headed out for the door and headed towards the town hall- which was luckily just 3 minutes away from the construction site she was working at. Since it was pretty early- around 8 AM- there wasn't much of a line yet- or even a line at all as she went through the doors and asked the information office where the pictures were being taken this year. The girl in the office directed her straight through the hallway where the processing office was, exactly the same place where it was last year.

"There isn't even a line," Isadora remarked as she walked towards the processing office. She was greeted by middle aged woman sitting down while sorting out a whole pile of papers.

"Hi there, I'd like to submit my form." She notice the bored expression of the woman at the desk, and decided to strike up a conversation.

"So, there isn't really a line here, huh." she asked, looking around the office.

"Yeah, usually really quiet here in the morning." she replies as she places all the forms into a drawer. "A lot of girls actually are pretty scared to join this year since the huge attack on the palace that killed the Prince and his son, not to mention the remaining Selected." she added as Isadora handed her form to the woman.

"This is just between you and me," she takes a moment to read her name on the form,"-Isadora, but I heard that the Selected this year are going to learn so many more things than just being a princess." she whispers, looking sideways checking if anyone was eavesdropping on them . "My son, he's a guard at the palace, and there are adjustments in their training center- rigged to accommodate more people and there are these two instructors coming there. If I were you-"

"Excuse me!" a high pitched voice interrupted their conversation, a girl, much tinier than Isadora, pushed right past her and spoke to the lady. "I'm Georgina Tiana Upland," she says as she pushes her sunglasses up to her hair to show her face "Of the upper Uplands- the Upland as in the Governor of the Province." she flips her black bone straight hair back at the woman as she hands her form to the lady at the desk.

Isadora was taken aback a little by the interruption, but she pasted on a smile and tapped the girl's shoulder. "Hey there, Georgie," she says as Georgina turns her attention to Isadora. "I'm afraid that I was here first." she continues as Georgina shrugs. "I'm pretty sure you understand the concept of lines, right?" Isadora asks in the calmest voice she could conjure, adding a little humor to her voice to lighten up the girl's mood. Isadora really couldn't judge the girl right away- _she could be in a hurry and thought I was done with getting my picture taken right?_ She asks herself internally.

Georgina just blinks for a moment until she steps aside, blushing against her pale skin tone. "Oh my goodness, I'm so sorry!" she exclaims, embarrassed, as Isadora steps ahead. "No, it's fine." Isadora assures as the woman at the desk calls the photographer over as he adjusts his camera. Isadora notices the girl-Georgina, bouncing a bit on her heels as the photographer was still setting up his camera.

"Now, where are my manners? Isadora Fanchon LaRoux, put her there!" Isadora remarks as she extends her hand to Georgina. "Georgina Tiana Upland," the smaller girl replies, shaking the taller girls hand. "Um, the governor's daughter and uh.. Student." she adds with a smile. Isadora concluded that she's a two, her dad being the governor and all.

"So what are you studying?" Isadora asked as the photographer took a few shots and adjusted its setting.

"Musical Theater, planning on moving to Labrador to work there and study" Georgina smiled.

"Oooo, a singer! Not much of a singer myself, so I have mad respect for singers!" Isadora says as she explains, earning a giggle from Georgina. She thought Georgina looked like a princess, sweet and petite, with her dark hair and large emerald green eyes.

"Miss LaRoux, time for your picture." the photographer says as Isadora walks over to the background, ready for her picture to be taken. "Alright, smile ,miss." the photographer said as Isadora smiled, the thought of an adventure like traveling to Angeles and meeting a Prince- he wasn't at all bad looking based on when she saw him sometimes on posters or on the television in a friend's house (since her family didn't own a television).

When she was done, she passed Georgina giving her a thumbs up while Georgina mouthed "Good Luck" to her. Isadora just smiled and waved good bye as she went out of the office and directly went straight ahead to the construction site she worked at.

* * *

A/N: Surprise! We have another author's note down here! (Cause I honestly love talking so much lol) Anywhos, come and check out the pinterest board which you can find using the link tinyurl dot com /queenstrial !

On a similar matter, I was thinking of expanding the board and inviting people (who are interested) in pinning Selection-y stuff on The Queenstrial board. I've come across the ultimate Selection SYOC board-goals aka The Selected Twins Board on pinterest by shadeslayersprinces111 and I really want to start pinning stuff like super pretty dresses and stuff and character's style and I'm really hyped on doing that, but I don't think I can do that alone, hence I'm recruiting all of you to join the board!

I'd definitely would love to hear from you (through review or PM) if you'd be pinterested (ba dum tsssssss) in joining! I'd love to add you as a collaborator for the board! :D Check me out through the username : thesparklyjewel :3

Okay, and on the updating schedule, I think I'll try posting two chapters every week or possibly a chapter every 4 days, so yeap, that's about it

Face Claims:

Daniela Cortez - Elizabeth Grimaldo

Isadora LaRoux - Andrea Brooks (Youtuber Name: AndreasChoice)

Virtual Cookies for those who can get the two references to two books turned musicals in this chapter (one reference per musical)!

Okay, I swear this is the end of this A/N

~*Sparky Out*~


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: So when I checked on the number of reviews I had for the last chapter, I literally screamed and went a little teary eyed. 17 reviews? I mean, that** **'s amazing! I can't believe I have this much support for my story since I never really saw it coming! You guys literally make my day when you write your reviews and motivate me to keep up with my two updates a week timeline! Thank you so much guys!**

 **Alright, so to answer everyone for the the book/musical references in the last chapter, the first was Tilda, inspired by the character created by Roald Dahl and then turned into one of the cutest musicals ever! The next was a reference to Wicked! Remember the girl Isadora encountered? She introduced herself as Georgina Upland, of the Upper Uplands, which was a nod to one of the very first lines G(a)linda said at Shiz University! (okay that kinda was a super specific reference lol) Crazy rambling aside...**

 **My thanks go out to the following for reviewing my story in the last chapter: New Prussia, CoolFortheSummer, NewKindofCinderella, morethanjustastory, princessgothicfull, ravenclawgirl22, Of Darkness and of Light, The Lady Cloudy, wolfofstark, Cookiedoodles168, GreenWithAwesome (I** **'ve tried taking the advice you've given me bt unfortunately my writing application doesn't seem to have an emdash feature, but thank you so much for the help!), alexiaroosenhaan, fivesauce'n'YAbooks, Headless Gummy Bear, jenhen48, thedaffodilqueen, and wazowskis!**

 **Thank you so much guys!**

* * *

 **Percival Finnley Lombard's POV**

Percy thought that giving the Selection a second round wouldn't be so hard or frightening, but as he sat in a room with 35 huge bowls labeled by their provinces, he felt that round two was two times worst.

His thoughts drifted back to the first time he had to do this. He went into his first Selection with minimal expectations, hoping to at least find someone who was tolerable enough to live with in the palace and have children with- a relationship that mirrored his mother and father. After all, neither were interested in the opposite sex- merely marrying out of formality and to fulfill an agreement between Illea and England.

Zoning back into the current situation, Percy reminded himself of his position at the moment. _Your name is Percival Finnley Lombard. You are 21 years old. You are the Prince of Illea._ He breathed in, closing his eyes, trying to ignore the crowd in the studio with crews getting ready for the live report and trying to avoid his reflection. He thought it was odd that the Queen had a separated the Report studio from the palace interior, moving it to it's own structure within the Palace's exterior. Perhaps it was a cautionary measure on their side.

With trying to calm down his nerves, certain memories began flashing in the darkness. _Lavender, hazel eyes, blood on a blush dress, Kingdom Come-_ _ **NO**_ **,** he told himself, willing the memories to go away. They shouldn't be back again today, he's told himself a thousand times over to just stop that.

"Percy," Elsa's voice jolted him in his seat, making him open his eyes as she laid a hand on his shoulder "Perk, are you ready?" she asked as she rubbed his back comfortingly. The great thing about having three parental figures in his life, is that each of them possessed an aspect that made Percy the man he was today.

"Yeah," he gave a nod as he looked down on his hands, "just kinda nervous about going through this again." It was more than just nerves this time, it was more fear than nerves. Percy resigned himself to loneliness after the attack on the palace, knowing that his luck with love was pretty much used up after meeting Zam.

 _Stop thinking about her_ , he scolded himself. S _hesgoneshesgoneshesgoneshesgone_

"Well, Perk, you know what they say, second time's the charm!" Elsa reassured him adding a little humor to her tone. "You are a sweet and handsome young man, Percy. The girls Selected would have a harder time not fawning over you than your mother trying to avoid her love of chocolate chip cookies." she added while she squeezed him into a hug. Percy had to crack a smile at his mother's joke.

"Excuse me, your highness," Percy heard Quincy from behind them as Elsa had let go of the hug and turned around and he had to twist his head just a little to see Quincy standing a little flustered as he wore an expression that was a mix of concern, stress, and excitement while he kept his arms behind him.

"If Prince Percival would be so kind to walk with me for a quick briefing for the events for the day." he asked as he gestured to the set being set up in the broadcasting room. Percy and Elsa merely stood up , Elsa gave Percy a light pat on the back and a nod to Quincy and went on her way outside the studio , while Percy walked along Quincy as he began scanning his tablet for his plans.

"The drawing of the Selected will be filmed, and the footage will appear on the Report tonight kind of like some kind of audio-visual presentation that would bring all of Illea to the edge of their seats." Quincy gave a dramatic pause, "Then we'll be calling introducing the names and displaying the girls' photos on screen." Quincy explained as he stopped and showed the layout of the screen planned for the Report. Percy wondered why Quincy was telling all of him this, since that exactly was what happened in his last Selection.

"No one will know who're the Selected except me and the head of tech." he added excitedly, "Which brings me to the newest part of the Selection this year," his tone climbing an octave in his excitement. Percy had raised his eyebrow.

"The Queen and I have agreed that a lot of the younger parts of this population were quite invested in your previous Selection- thousands rooting and expressing their support for each Selected on social media like Barker and Instagraph." Quincy paused for another dramatic pause (Quincy always loved being theatrical).

"So we've decided to work with it and have provided you your own Barker and Instagraph accounts. Well, not only you, but your Selection as well." Quincy explained as he quickly switched the display on his tablet to what apparently was Percy's Barker account- with one of his formal pictures as his icon.

"With that, you're expected to say things like updates about your life and the Selection without giving away too much." Quincy shrugged as he switched to another application to what apparently was Instagraph - a popular photo sharing application which Miranda was obsessed with her OOTDs (what did that even mean?) and pictures of her dog (appropriately named Queenie).

"You can ask Miranda to help you with your first post on Instagraph. Actually, why don't you stand right there your highness?" Quincy said as he pressed a few buttons on his tablet and proceeded to step back a little, followed by the sound of a camera clicking. Quincy then came back to Percy's side as he showed the screen to him- it was a photo of Percy standing in the middle of the unfinished report set- his head looking down and his hands in his pockets.

"But you can barely see me! This picture's against the light!" Percy reacted as it was only his silhouette that contrasted the bright lights of the set. "

"Exactly why it's great for a first picture, your highness." Quincy nodded as he tried zooming out of the picture, "It has an air of mystery but shows something about your everyday life. Not to mention very artistic-looking" he added as he tucked his tablet under his arm.

Percy still didn't understand why a picture of him being against the light was "artistic" or "mysterious" but he decided to trust Quincy as they both walked to the middle of the room where he'd draw the first names of the Selected.

"Alright, so this is where you'd be standing at first. I guess it's time to start with the random draw." Quincy spoke as two camera men were ready to follow Percy around. Percy nodded as he stood in front of the first bowls of names for Allens and reached for a name.

* * *

"Illea, Illea, Illea!" Sophronisca Prada greeted Illea as she stood on the podium of the Report studio as the crowd of the Report replied with a roar of "Prada, Prada, Prada!"

"Tonight is a very special night for us. As tonight, we will be presenting to you the Selected for Prince Percival's Selection!" Sophronisca beamed at the camera as she took the mic from its holder and moved away from the podium as she walked to the center of the set.

Percy sat in between his mothers, trying to keep his nerves under control trying to take his mind off the anxiety by taking in the chic dresses his mothers wore. Everyone in the family shared the same stylist - an established stylist by the name of Willa Garner, and he could say that all three of them always were satisfied by Willa's suggestions.

Queen Hanna Beth wore a black high necked halterneck dress and a dark dark blue skirt that reached the ground, that suited her tall frame while Princess Elsa wore a beguiling off white maxi dress with strategic lace paneling and a slit that reached up to the knees. Percy did not miss out on the opportunity to be stylish as he wore a midnight blue suit with an interesting blue pocket square - tie combination that showed a zig zag pattern.

"As everyone knows, this is the Second Selection being held, and I'm quite sure that this would be a walk in the park of our Prince." Sophronisca smiled as she walked towards the Royal Family. "Queen Hanna Beth, I understand that this Selection is not a foreign concept to your family, so if I may ask, are we going to see anything different?" she smiled as she stood right beside the Queen's seat.

"Well Sophie, every Selection is different in its own right. My father's ended with him finding a wife he's loved for years and years on end." Hanna Beth said fondly, her dark blue eyes showing the little laugh marks she's gained through the years.

"I hope my son finds someone to love that much." Hanna Beth added as she turned her head to Percy's direction and gave him a comforting smile. At first glance, his mother looked cold and calculating but it was in moments when she talked about her family that showed her genuine soul, a soul that had to develop an armor to protect the ones she loved.

"That's a lovely way to put it, your majesty. If I might add, you are slaying in that black dress. " Sophronisca replied cheekily earning her an amused laugh from the Queen. Sophronisca gave a courteous bow then moved to Elsa, "and you as well Princess Elsa, a wonderful look for the night! May I ask who are you wearing?"

Elsa laughed coyly, her hand partially covering her smile, "Thank you, Sophie," she greeted, "as usual, I'm wearing one of the wonderful designs made by no one else but Shaelyn Creed, and Hanna is wearing Shaelyn as well!" Elsa answered with a smile.

"Well, it's a lovely dress, your highness. So back to business, any advice for the Selected?" Sophronisca asked the common question to the Princess Consort. Elsa took a moment to compose her answer and glance at Percy until she finally answered. "Beauty begins the moment you decide to be yourself, girls."

"Gabriel also said this the last time but it's useful..." Elsa paused with a smile, leaning towards the camera and cupping her hand beside her mouth as if she were telling a secret, "Percy loves to eat chocolate chip cookies just as much as his mother." she laughed as the Queen joined in with her trademark boisterous laugh, with the audience laughing along too.

"Hear that ladies? Prepare those cookies when you get here in the palace!" Sophronisca laughed when she finally spoke to Percy.

"Ahhhh, the man of the hour, Prince Percival!" she grinned as Percy gave a nervous smirk as he awaited Sophronisca's question. "So, nervous, Prince Percival?"

Percy gripped the arm of his chair, as his palms started to get a little slippery with his sweat. "Who wouldn't be Sophronisca?" Percy laughed, trying to play cool.

"I'm going to meet 35 wonderful girls, and get to know them! I'm a lucky man to have this opportunity." Percy gave a smile to Sophronisca and to the camera.

"Prince Percival, I'm not sure if you've been asked this before, but what do you find attractive in a girl?" Sophronisca asked followed by an audible _oooooooOOOO_ from the audience in the studio.

Percy opened his mouth ready to give an answer until he had a flash of Zam's smile on his mind. He tried to give an answer, his mouth moving without a sound coming out. He shook his head to clear his mind a gave a smile, "Sorry, there were just dozens of things I do find attractive. However, I think that what makes someone beautiful is their confidence and heart." Percy replied hoping his answer would suffice and not make him seem shallow.

"Agreed your highness!" Sophronisca spoke as she moved towards the podium where she'd announce the names of the Selected.

"Now, Prince Percival personally drew the names out to ensure an unbiased Selection, and that each and every girl in Illea had an equal chance to be Selected."Sophronisca started off, "We've even prepared a short AVP. Roll it!"

The Screens then showed the video to the audience in the studio. Sophronisca shook her head a little and took a glass of water out of where it sat in case she got parched during the Report. The crew had silently moved towards Percy as they pointed him towards a screen where he'd be able to see the pictures of the Selected.

A minute or so later, the video had ended and Sophronisca held an envelope with the Illean seal on it. "Get ready ladies, cause your life is about to change drastically once I read your names." Sophronisca said as she opened the envelope and began reading the names of the card.

"For Allens, Miss Arabelle Rosetta Hartley, a Six." Sophronisca declared as a photo of a girl with a dark caramel complexion and a a glint of recklessness in her eyes flashed on the screen, she was pretty enough to him.

"Miss Julchen Maria Ackerman, Angeles, a Two" the picture flashed onto the screen with an audible gasp from the audience. Her skin and hair were as white as snow, and her eyes were an eye catching shade of red- from what Percy had learned from the different tutors he'd had, he was sure that this girl had albinism. Despite her interesting features, she had a face that looked ethereal in a way, like a marble sculpture he'd seen when he visited Italy.

"For Atlin, Miss Shaelyn Amory Creed, a Two." the familiar name made Percy's eyes grow wide slightly. Shaelyn was a both of his mothers' favorite designers, even wearing her designs that night. In his shock, he had missed Shaelyn's picture flashing on the screen.

* * *

A/N: Wew! Another long chapter! Don't worry everyone! The Report would continue on the next chapter! I'll be posting it around May 3 or 4 (since I probably would spend some of my writing time reading The Crown!) And if you guys had noticed, I had actually changed the cover of the story into something that I tried to replicate it like a a legit Selection Cover! (the keyword is tried) XD

Warning: Minor Spoilers ahead! Do not read if you do not want to get spoiled!

Okay, I'm super hyped about The Crown and to see what happens to all the characters in the story! I personally am rooting for Eikko (hurhur, I know he's not a Selected Suitor but he's Eikko! Wonderful wonderful translator, super nice Eikko!) or Henri! (I just found out that you read his name like OHN-REE , and I was like "whaaaaaaat? My whole life is a lie!)

I've got tons and tons of theories of what could happen in the book, so if anyone's interested to listen to one of my many rambles and theories, don't be afraid to PM! :D

Thank you guys so much for your support again! Tell me about your thoughts on the new cover! Love it? Hate it? I'd love to know!

~*Sparky out*~


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: MAY THE FOURTH BE WITH YOU ALL!**

 **Keeping this upper a/n short since we've got a really long chapter ahead of us so let's get down to business, and no it's not to defeat the huns.**

 **Thank you so much to the following for reviewing the last chapter :** **New Prussia, CoolFortheSummer, The Lady Cloudy, wolfofstark, Cookiedoodles168, GreenWithAwesome** **, alexiaroosenhaan, Headless Gummy Bear, Guest (Sky), thedaffodilqueen, Hikaru Leach, Scarlett Brinnley Brookson, and wazowskis!**

 **My apologies for the slightly delayed update! I kinda spent some of my writing time devoted to reading The Crown and watching GoT! And uh reading some really good *cough* GoT fanfics *cough*. My Apologies again. (also, another set of apologies if you get multiple emails of me updating this Chapter)  
**

 **Enjoy the chapter, it's the longest yet~ :D**

* * *

 **Shaelyn Amory Creed, 18, Atlin, Caste 2, Fashion Designer  
**

Today was one of the craziest days she's ever experienced.

First, she had finally sketched out the closing dress for her Fall/Winter collection for her design line. (Well, 10 gowns down, 4 more gowns to work on)

Second, some wonderfully crazy two had purchased ten different gowns from her spring/summer collection (what she'd do with the gowns remained to be seen).

Third, one of her gowns from the Spring/Summer of the year had received a lot of praise- it did help that the starlet who wore it to one of those super snooty award shows was the current darling of the media.

Shaelyn was too excited when she saw a fashion critic show had featured the actress - Chanel Heralds- whose stylist had asked to borrow one particular lilac dress for the actress just the other day. Shae was literally jumping with glee when the critics praised the actress for her choice of dress, even one of them mentioning that they had seen HER Spring/Summer show and adored the collection. She couldn't have felt any happier.

Recovering from her shock from the praise of the fashion critics, she had to go back to her work bench as she continued trying to embroider one of the many details she planned to place on an ombre pink to wine dress. It was actually getting late back in her studio and only two seamstresses she had hired was there finishing on one dress together. Somewhere in the background, there was the noise of the tv rambling on. What was it? Friday?

"Miss Shaelyn, do you think we could watch the Report tonight?" one of her seamstresses had asked. She was one of the newer ones she had hired- still really young- around 16, and probably one of the hopefuls who dreamed of getting Selected, even the seamstress beside her looked excited.

Shae had looked up from her dress and smiled, "Of course, Winnie.", Shae then had gotten the remote and changed the channel as the host was already reading up the names- thankfully she was currently interviewing the Queen. Shae's jaw dropped when she saw not only the Queen but the Princess were in her gowns. _The Queen and the Princess were wearing HER gowns. THE QUEEN AND THE PRINCESS WERE WEARING HER GOWNS._

Shae knew that the Queen and her wife liked her designs- even asking her to work on custom gowns for them to wear for special events for the past year. She was more than happy to oblige- being able to visit the palace and speak to each woman, amazed at how nice both of them were to her.

Queen Hanna Beth preferred to wear dark, striking, and simple kinds of dresses- usually in black and navy blue and her dress during the Report was no different. Princess Elsa, on the other hand, loved to wear light sparkly and flowy kinds of dresses. The dresses she wore did reflect the Princess' easy-going nature. Elsa was always the more talkative one with Shaelyn, often calling up Shae when she needed a new dress design - or asking Shae what she thought would look well with one specific dress or another. Shae thought that Elsa was like a good acquaintance to her.

The host, Sophronisca Prada, then turned to speak with the Prince, hearing a sigh from both of her seamstresses. The Prince was attractive, even Shae could see that. On the occassions she had seen him in person (usually because of a function her father had brought her to or when Elsa had invited her for a fitting and tea), she'd usually see him standing behind pillars trying to avoid large crowds or people trying to get on his good side.

"Isn't he dreamy?" Winnie asked, as the seamstress working beside her, Jojo, gave a nod, a slight blush on her. "Can you just imagine getting Selected?" Winnie added.

"It would do so much for me and my family. Even if I do get sent home right away, I could be able to study to be a designer-Ow!" Jojo wistfully spoke until she accidentally pricked herself with the needle she was working with. Jojo then stuck her finger in her mouth to dull the pain. "Miss Shaelyn, did you apply for the Selection?" she said as she nursed her pricked finger.

She did apply, just one of those spur of the moment things on one of her less inspired days. She's been working on her Fall/Winter collection for the past three months, and she's never felt any more tired. Shae was no stranger to hard work, but in all honesty, she needed a break. Maybe the Selection could be the long-awaited break she needed.

"Miss Julchen Maria Ackerman, Angeles, A Two." Sophronisca spoke as a picture of one of the most unusual looking girls Shae has ever seen had appeared on the screen. Shae took a mental note in to ask if the girl modeled since her look was unusually pretty.

"She looks a bit frightening." Jojo said as she was back to work on the dress she was embroidering.

"Well, she actually looks like some of the models that we hired in the last collection." Winnie spoke up, looking up at the screen when she realized that their province was next. Shae just shook her head jokingly and focused back on embroidering the dress, forgetting that Atlin was the next province to be announced.

"From Atlin, Miss Shaelyn Amory Creed, a Two." _Did she just say Shaelyn? Amory? CREED?_ Shaelyn had looked up, stabbing herself with the needle she was working with. "Ow!" Jojo and Winnie screamed and ran to her when Shae's name was announced and her picture flashed on the screen on the TV. "Don't forget us when you're in the Palace Miss Shaelyn!" Jojo shrieked as they both gave her a hug. A knock on the door and the loud ring of her cellphone- names flashing on the screen- several people calling her at the same time, and texts popping up every second or so, not to mention her studio's landline ringing along with the noise.

Shae decided to pick up the landline, and let her cellphone ring. Anyway, she could just call people back once she's seen the missed calls. "Hello, Is this Lady Shaelyn Creed? My name is Zayn, and I'm from the palace." Oh boy, this day was definitely the craziest.

* * *

 **Percival Finnley Lombard**

Percy took an audible gulp as Sophronisca continued reading the names of the Selected.

"For Baffin, Miss Katerina Mae Theodopolis, A Three!" The picture of the girl did not seem so striking, her wheat-colored hair tied in a low pony tail while her dull grey eyes were covered by a pair of glasses.

"From Bankston, Miss Francesca Jane Kelsey, A Two." Sophronisca practically sang out as she announced the name. Francesca's picture popped up on the small screen, Percy's eyebrows raised slightly. Francesca had caramel blonde hair, pulled into a messy bun, and greyish-blue eyes. However her beauty was slightly distorted by the dark circles under her eyes and the tired look she possessed.

"Next, from Belcourt, Miss Aliah Jay Michone, A Two." The audience gave another gasp (what's new?) when the name was announced. There a picture of a girl with dark skin and white patches appeared, she was gorgeous with an edge with her hair in a dark maroon color. Percy thought he heard that name before, on the tv or on the radio but he wasn't exactly sure why.

"From Bonita, Miss Stephanie Reine Romilly, A Seven." Percy heard another audible gasp from the crowd, probably due to the case of the girl. Couldn't the crowd stop gasping at every girl announced? The girl in the picture didn't even look like a Seven. Her blonde hair was in a simple French braid, and Percy could tell that she was tiny, as she looked like she was standing on a box to reach the camera's height. Her smile was cheerful with a small glint in her brown eyes.

"And from Calgary, we have Miss Sofia Maria Moretti, a Four." Percy nodded along as the picture flashed on screen. Sofia's wavy dark hair and eyes complimented her creamy skin tone. Percy noted the agreeable smile she had resembled Zam's in a way, with the small crinkle in her eyes and the wideness it had.

"From Carolina, Miss Matisse Grace Aguilar, another Four." Matisse was notably very pretty, her brown hair looked reddish and her hooked nose seemed to complement her oblong face.

"Clermont is represented by Miss Celeste May, A Three" The picture flashed and a girl with definite New Asian roots appeared with her small almond eyes and long black hair. Percy's face started to ache as he tried to maintain an interested smile.

"From Columbia, Miss Jasmine Willow Yang, another Three." Another New Asian girl appeared on the screen, though in her picture she looked willowy and easy to break.

"From Dakota, we have Miss Emma Castwell, A Six." Percy's eyebrows raised again as her picture appeared on the screen, another girl with New Asian roots appeared for the third time in a row, though she looked slightly different with her eyes being green.

"Representing Denbeigh is Miss Rylise Meredith Hopkins, A Five" Rylise's picture appeared on screen and Percy gave a soft smile. Rylise was one of the prettiest girls he's seen so far, not to say the rest weren't but Rylise did possess a smile that drew him to her. He noted her blonde hair in a messy bun and the pink lipstick she wore, and made a mental note to read her file ahead of some of the others.

"From Dominica, Let's congratulate Miss Isla Caballero, A Four." Sophronisca's voice began to sound monotonous as she read the 14th? 15th? name on the Selected List. Isla 's hair was in loose waves in her picture, and her smile just exuded a vibrant spirit.

"Onto Fennley, Miss Elizabeth Annika Woodson, A Three!" Tired blue eyes stared back at Percy. The girl in the picture- Elizabeth- had long blonde hair that hung down like a curtain, and her tired expression made Percy wonder what kind of job would she have if she looked this tired and was a Three? Another mental note was made by Percy, to also make checking Elizabeth's profile a priority.

"From Hansport, Miss Hillary Jewel Tulips, A Six" The girl appeared on screen looked too washed out- with her overly pale skin, shocking platinum blonde hair, and pale blue eyes. Percy wondered if she melted if she was exposed in the sun, for she looked like an ice sculpture brought to life.

"Miss Yasmeen Darise Maroun of Honduragua, A Four" Yasmeen's picture contrasted Hillary's a lot, despite the two having similar features. Yasmeen's hair was blonde, but looked like the sun had lightened it. Her skin was sun kissed, making her blue? Green? Blue-Green eyes pop out. "She's quite pretty." He heard Elsa whisper to him. Percy simply nodded in reply.

"From Hundson, Miss Tallulah Taylor Trump, A Two" Percy tried not to roll his eyes at the sound of Tallulah's name. How could Percy possibly describe Miss Trump? They say she's done Hair commercials in Spain. One time, Percy met her in a charity gala and she told him he was "hot" and would "definitely want to bang him.". Overall, the strawberry blonde girl was the epitome of annoying to him. Hanna Beth leaned to Percy whispering "I want that girl gone, _immediately_." . He simply smiled at the thought of getting rid of her.

"Miss Lysette Jan Antigua of Kent, A Two." If Percy could recall, he believed that Lysette was a famous Beauty Queen in Illea, coming from a win from Miss Earth. Her picture definitely could support his theory. She looked like one with her wide smile and her hand on a hip pose (he could even tell she was posing that way by the posture she had on the picture).

"For Labrador, we have Miss Ella Blaire Dehmle, A Four." The girl in the picture was quite pretty, most especially her blue eyes which were matched by wavy chestnut brown hair and pale skin. However, Percy thought that Ella looked a little bit on the overly thin side. "She's a little too thin, don't you think?" Elsa had whispered through a smile, masking her own concern over the girl. "I'll see to ask the aids to check on her health." Percy replied as he leaned towards Elsa.

"Lakedon is represented by Miss Jolie Lourd Fisher, A Seven." Percy wasn't impressed by Jolie's looks. She had shoulder length red hair that couldn't be naturally that color, the blonde roots peeking already, her nose looked crooked as if it's been broken several times before., and she looked like one of her teeth was knocked out of her mouth.

"Next, we have Miss Hayley Mei Vaughan of Likely,A Three." Hayley's extremely long brown hair was tied into a ponytail, her smile was bright. She looked a little tired, however her effervescent smile did draw more attention. Percy simply gave a tiny smile.

"Coming from Midston, Miss Davina LaRue, A Five." Davina was yet another brunette, her brown eyes possessed a mix of strength and dreaminess, as if she were determined to look for something that wasn't there before.

Sophronisca had to take a breath and take a sip of water as she continued reading out the names. Percy had to sympathize with her, she was reading a pretty lengthy list.

"Miss Billy Sarah Driver of Ottaro, A Six" Percy thought she had a forgettable face, nothing that stood out from the pool of brunettes already announced.

"Miss Isadora Fanchon LaRoux of Paloma, A Seven." Percy's eyes were immediately drawn to her hair. Apart from the other girls, Isadora wore purple flowers in her hair. _Zam wore flowers in her hair too,_ he thought. He had to shake his head a little as he scolded himself for thinking of her again. Before he knew it, Isadora's picture had faded from the screen as Sophronisca had announced the next girl.

"Miss Daniella Fernanda Cortéz of Panama, A Three" Daniella had a dreamy look about her, and like most people from her province, she had tanned skin. Percy definitely felt something draw him to her, but he wasn't exactly sure why. "Very pretty." Elsa had spoken as she nodded in approval.

"Miss Honey Vera Bouvier of Sonage, A Two" Honey definitely lived up to her namesake, her hair was honey blonde but she remained to fade into the background besides the other girls.

"From Sota, Miss Willow Susan Jones, A Two"

"From St. George, Miss Kaya Rose Seabrooks, a Five." Percy found Kaya's hair the prettiest aspect of her, it was a beautiful shade of red, much prettier than what's her name... Jolie?

"Onwards to Sumner, Miss Esther Marcia Jameniez, A Three" Percy didn't really see anything that caught his attention about Esther- other than her use of red lipstick.

"Miss Thema Kaur of Tammins, A Two." Thema definitely had an interesting appearance. Her dark skin was contrasted by her green eyes, steely with a look of determination. She had the shortest hair among the Selected, and that, together with her crooked nose, Percy could bet one of his crowns that the girl was an athlete.

"Miss Gemma Dreama Germain of Waverly, A Two." Percy smiled at the picture of the Gemma. Nobody really knew that one of his guilty pleasures was watching different reality TV Shows, and Gemma was one of stars of Dance Stars (Hanna Beth's favorite show), a tv show that featured students of a crazy dance teacher and her even more crazily talented students. Gemma was easily recognizable since she was one of the stars of the show, however it was odd to see the blonde smile since her character in the show was like the ice queen among the students.

"From Whites, we have Miss Delilah Kings, a Five." Delilah had peculiar blue eyes, standing out from the others due to them looking purple before Percy squinted a little bit to realize they were blue.

"From Yukon, Miss Daisy Garnet Thatcher, A Seven." Sophronisca's voice had slightly cracked as she announced Daisy's name.

"Finally, from Zuni, let's congratulate Miss Gwendolyn Mae Bailey, a Four!" Gwendolyn was another red head, but her hair was possibly the deepest red among the Selected. Percy couldn't really tell how long it was since her hair was pulled back in a french braid. Her eyes were another pair which he had to squint to determine the color, they looked hazel but not quite, and they had little wrinkles around it from the way she was smiling. Percy thought she had the prettiest smile, dazzling really.

"Let's have another round of applause for our chosen Daughters of Illea!" Sophronisca announced as she finally moved from her spot on the podium towards the center of the set.

"We'll have many opportunities to broadcast to you content about everything and anything to do with the Selection, so stay tuned for updates in the official Royal Family social media accounts! For those of you who don't know, Our Selection also has different social media accounts, and you can see exclusive content brought to you from the palace by following ' ThePercelection' you heard it right! Follow ' ThePercelection' on Barker to see exclusive content for this Selection!" Sophronisca wrapped up, doing some shameless social media plugging for the Selection.

In all honesty, Percy was not surprised with the username given to his Selection, for there was only one person her knew who was capable of making a pun that horrible, and that was Patrick Mcfreakin Mcdonough. Hanna Beth, on the other hand, gave another boisterous laugh before covering her mouth and suppressing her laughter at the ridiculous username. "Did you know about that?" Percy whispered to her.

"Yes, Patrick and Quincy made it up. It's genius and I quite like it, Percival." she spoke through giggles.

"That's about it for this week Illea, and make sure to catch the Pre-Selection special airing next week. We're going to give all of you sneak peeks of our Selected! Good Night Illea, and long live the Queen!"

* * *

A/N: Thank you so much for reading! I don't have much to say for this A/N other than... OMG I NEED SOMEONE TO TALK ABOUT THE CROWN WITH _aaaaand_ that we'll be seeing how some of the other characters had reacted to being Selected and some meeting their aids and them getting interviewed Pre-Selection wise.

Aight, that's it guys. Next update would probably be on Saturday or Sunday~

~*Sparky out*~


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Hello dear readers! My apologies for missing my update last week! I** **'ve suffering from a nasty bout with the flu which later developed to a case of rhinitis, and am currently still fighting it off as I write this chapter.**

 **Onwards to the thanking~ My gratitude go out to the following for reviewing the last chapter: New Prussia (Check her SYOC out~!), GreenWithAwesome (Also, check out Green's SYOC out~), Hikaru Leach (Also check out her SYOC!), morethanjustastory (check her stories out too!), alexiaroosenhaan (also check out her story~!), Cookiedoodles168, princessgothicfull, and wolfofstark (who also has an SYOC story, so check it out~!).**

 **Also promoting Headless Gummy Bear's SYOC story- "Crown of the Absentee"! If you're into submitting characters, try sending one in for her story!  
Also check out CoolFortheSummer's story : Clean SYOC! It's quite interesting and it comes with a story trailer! How cool is that?  
**

 **Enjoy the chapter! The characters featured are Stephanie Reine Romilly (submitted by alexiaroosenhaan) and Thema Kaur (submitted by GreenWithAwesome)**

* * *

 **Stephanie Reine Romilly, 17, Caste 7, Bonita, Farm Hand**

Stephanie was watching the Report with most of farm hands in the main farm house at the ranch when her name was called by Sophronisca Prada. Everyone in the room was quiet at first, everyone except her sister- London- who was screaming and jumping where she stood.

Recognition dawned on the faces of everyone's face and suddenly, everyone was screaming, jumping, and celebrating in shock and excitement. It was madness.

The lone phone in the farm house rang, with one of the older farm hands answering it.

"Reine! Everyone shut up! Reine!" he yelled as everyone quieted down. "The caller's looking for you, it's an official from the palace!" he called out as Stephanie made her way through the number of people crowding her. "Thanks Mr. Noel" Stephanie spoke as she took the wired phone and answered with a courteous hello.

"Hello! Lady Stephanie Romilly of Bonita, is it?" the female caller asked in an odd accent, possibly Swendish.

"Yes, this is she." she spoke with as much confidence she could muster, the feeling of being called a "Lady" was an odd yet weirdly familiar. The celebration of the other farm hands continued in the background, yet her sister and Mr. Noel told the others to quiet down as she took her call.

"This is Anja Heikki, and I am your aid from the palace!" Anja replied in a cheerful response. "I would first like to congratulate you on being Selected for Prince Percival's Selection."

"Thank you, Anja"

"Now, let's get down to business Lady Stephanie. I will be heading to Bonita tomorrow morning with a small team of people who will aid you on your way to Angeles. Nothing quite serious, just us going through several security measures, ensuring that everything on your application was true."

Stephanie took a nervous gulp as she replied with a "Of course, you'll find me at the ranch I work at."

"Great! We'll also be taking your measurements and bringing in a small camera crew for a short interview with you. If you could, please wear something nice and presentable tomorrow. Illea will be getting their first look of you by tomorrow." Anja excitedly spoke. "Your send off ceremony will be happening by next week, so please forgive us if the process seems a bit too quick. Any questions or clarifications, Lady Stephanie?"

"None other than a small detail," Stephanie paused, taking a moment to go over the question. "I have a younger sister under my care, Miss Heikki, and we really only have each other. I was wondering if arrangement could be made for my sister to find somewhere to stay near Angeles? I'm not implying that I'll be staying for a long time at the palace, but I'm concerned of her welfare when I'm not there to care for her and while I'm at the palace."

Stephanie was slightly nervous of what her aid's reaction would be, something along the lines of Anja laughing and dismissing the idea, but what would be worst would be if London wouldn't really be permitted to move close to Angeles and would have to stay so far away from her.

"I'll see what we could do , Lady Stephanie, but not to worry! I'll find a way to help you with that predicament." Anja replied in a cheerful manner, which lead Stephanie to give a sigh of relief. "If that will be your only question my Lady, I'll leave you to celebrate your Selection. Good Evening." With that, the line went down and the cheer of the farm hands came back to Stephanie's focus.

"So, you want me to move to Angeles with you?" Stephanie jumped slightly as London spoke as she leaned on the wall a small smirk forming on her face.

"Of course, you know that I'll always give my best to take care of you, _cheri_." Stephanie spoke as they moved across the room of giddy farm hands, all hugging her and her sister. Stephanie thanked them for their support while some asked for a few words on her being Selected. Stephanie merely declined saying that she was quite tired, and had to prepare for tomorrow's interview and such. With that, she and London walked together back to the humble quarters they shared in one of the staff houses on the ranch.

"You know that I can take care of myself, even if I'm here in Bonita, right? Everyone here loves me, they'll definitely watch over me while you're at the palace." London said as they continued walking to the staff house.

"I know, but we've never been separated since we ran away. It's an opportunity for us-" Stephanie spoke as she kicked a rock on the ground.

"But this is an opportunity for you, not me! I may be fourteen, but I'm the best groomer here in the ranch! You, you're a Lady now, Steph! I can happily stay here and you'll be happy in the palace." London had interrupted.

"I know, but it's more than just the dresses and the fun in the palace, cheri!" Stephanie said, a twinge of exasperation in her voice. "It's an opportunity for me to find our parents."

* * *

 **Thema Kaur, 19, Caste 2, Tammins, Professional Athlete**

"Nice to meet you Lady Thema. I'm Wimberly Joseph, and I work for the National Illean Channel." an eager voice boomed in the living room where Thema was getting her measurements taken.

"Yes, my aid told me you'd be coming here for an interview." Thema responded, slightly irritated at the mispronunciation of her name. "and Miss Joseph, it's Tay-muh, not Them-mah." she added just for clarification.

"My apologies Lady Thema," Wimberly corrected, the eagerness in her voice wavering. "This is Borge, the camera man. As you can see, we're applying a new technique of filming using this helmet." she had continued as she gestured towards a man beside her who wore an exoskeleton-like device that made him look like some kind of bug.

Before Thema could give out a reply, Wimberly continued speaking "I think this living room would be nice enough for the interview. Diaz, are you almost done?" Wimberly asked impatiently as she tapped the clipboard she was carrying with her pen.

"Yes yes, just need to ask Lady Thema's preference of clothing during the competition." Diaz hurriedly replied as he rolled the tape measure he was carrying. "So sweetheart, what would it be?"

Thema almost rolled her eyes at the nerve of the man to call her "sweetheart" but just gave a coy smile. "Give me drama. Tight, not that kind of frilly poofy kind of thing. I think mermaid dresses would be cool."

"Ah, I think I have something in mind, Chiara Versace had this new collection of dresses" the man said, as he took out his tablet and showed Thema a picture of a model in a dramatic black and gold dress. "The line is called "Baroque" probably because you'd be _baroque_ after purchasing one piece." Diaz murmured.

"That looks great! If you could also throw in something with pants, that would be even better." Thema nodded in approval of the dress and its detailing.

"I'll see what I could do, milady. Wimberly, she's yours. I have to head to Zuni for the other Selected." Diaz said as he packed his case and went straight for the door.

"Excellent! If you could just stand here Lady Thema," Wimberly spoke as Borge had taken lighting equipment from his bag and had set it up near where she was standing.

"Alright, and if you don't mind Lady Thema, I'll be setting up your microphone." Wimberly said as Borge had handed her a small device to be clipped on her dress.

Wimberly had to stand on her tiptoes just to attach it on the neckline of her dress, since she was quite tiny compared to her.

"Okay, great! So don't be nervous at all, milady. Just be as natural as you can be, I'll just be asking a few questions about yourself- your family history, what you do for a living, just really things people would want to know about you."

Thema was no stranger to interviews, having been interviewed quite a lot due to her career as a professional lacrosse player so she already had an idea to how she'd answer Wimberly's questions.

"Sure, easy enough." Thema had shrugged as Wimberly clipped her own microphone on the blazer she wore.

"Shooting in 10," Borge counted down as he pressed a few buttons on the side of his head. Once a green light flashed on the helmet he wore, Wimberly's posture had straightened and a huge smile was plastered on her face.

"Hello Illea! This is Wimberly Joseph, and I'm here with Lady Thema Kaur of Tammins! Lady Thema, to start this off, let's talk about what you do for a living." Wimberly said as she leaned against the wall.

"Well, I'm a professional athlete that plays for the Tammins Lacrosse team." Thema smiled at Wimberly, "We're currently participating in the Tatopoulus Cup and are currently ranked as the strongest Lacrosse team in the country."

"Quite an accomplishment for someone your age, Lady Thema. Coming from a competitive background, do you think you skills in lacrosse are applicable in this competition?" Wimberly asked as she glanced to the camera.

Thema took a moment to think about her answer, "I believe that's exactly what I could bring to this competition: my drive and my confidence - both things I've learned from playing lacrosse. I'm sure that being an athlete has helped me develop the thick skin one would need if they were to constantly be in the public eye."

"Yes, thick skin is definitely most of us have to develop if they were to be in this business. So, on your application, you've stated that you are in fact an only child. Do your parents support you in this endeavor?"

"Yes. My parents were elated when my name was announced on the Report! They've always been supportive of me, even when I was a little child. You see, I was born in Egypt, but my family had decided to move to Illea so I could pursue my interest in sports." Thema recounted the first time she stepped foot in Tammins when she was a tiny three year old, smiling due to the memory.

"I believe that interest in sports turned to a love for lacrosse. Do you have anything to say to your fellow Selected competitors? " Wimberly continued as she gestured Thema to look straight at the camera.

"I usually say this to people on rival teams but I think it applies to this competition too." Thema paused as she looked straight into the camera, the ghost of a smile on her lips.

"May the best girl win."

* * *

A/N: So on story updates, I've decided that the length of the story would be around 30 chapters.

Being a lurker before, I've noticed a lot of stories of the SYOC nature are usually abandoned after a while, so I've done some thinking and have decided to keep the story as short as 25-30 chapters (going on with my two/three chapters a week schedule, the story would hopefully be finished once I go back to school in late June, then I can focus on a story I've been wanting to write for a while - a PJO SYOC ).

Actually, I've pretty much planned half of story already- so hopefully once my good health is recovered - I'll be able to update the story much faster.

If you might have noticed, I'm trying to push through the pre-selection business as fast as I can to get on to the real competition and the real action (*cough* fight club- I mean training *cough*)

I'm also thinking of writing in Percy's POV more frequently, so I wouldn't go crazy writing so many POVs when the competition really starts.

Thank you for reading! Be kind to one another~ and YOU MUST READ THE TRIALS OF APOLLO: THE HIDDEN ORACLE, TRUST ME, YOU WON'T REGRET IT!

 _Next on the Queenstrial: The Send Off Ceremonies and Heading to Angeles!_

~*Sparky Out*~


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Hello readers! First of all, thank you to those who have greeted me with well wishes for my health. Unfortunately, the flu turned rhinitis has now developed into an upper respiratory tract infection. So apologies if I'm not updating as fast as I've promised.**

 **Thank you to the following for reviewing the last chapter: Headless Gummy Bear, New Prussia, GreenWithAwesome, Of Darkness and of Light, alexiaroosenhaan, CoolFortheSummer, and Cookiedoodles168!**

 **The characters featured this chapter are Aliah Jay Michone who is submitted by Ruby Cassablanca and Francesca Jane Kelsey who is submitted by Cookiedoodles168!**

 **Enjoy the chapter everybody!**

* * *

 **Aliah Jay Michone, 19, Caste 2, Belcourt, Pop star**

"Today, we are sending off Belcourt's favorite daughter of Illea- Lady Aliah Jay Michonne to compete for a chance of a lifetime!" A crowd of supporters near Belcourt's main square gathered around a raised platform, as the governor of Belcourt spoke, the Illean flag was the backdrop of the ceremony.

"Lady Aliah's story is one truly to behold - she was originally born as a five who had earned her caste as a two. Lady Aliah's talent in singing has very well placed her name as one of the big shots of the music industry, as well as her very rare kind of beauty- becoming one of this decade's redefinitions of beauty as proclaimed by Primadonna Magazine ." she continued as the winds in Belcourt began to pick up.

Aliah stood right beside the governor, Belcourt's official flower - a number of tiny Gordon's Mockorange- in her wavy silvery gray hair blowing in the wind, in the standard uniform of the Selected for their send-off ceremonies - a black off the shoulder ruffle jumpsuit (it was a choice of black and white jumpsuits) with her choice of shoes - a pair of strappy champagne colored 5-inch heels.

Aliah merely smiled as the governor continued praising her- talking about how she was discovered at a church when she was fourteen and the rest was simply history. She couldn't really trust the governor's words to be sincere, possibly sugarcoating her words to get on her good side.

The crowd of people in the square continued cheering though she could see a few people holding up over sized defaced pictures of her. She could hear the faint yell of people saying that her skin condition was the work of the devil, people yelling that she needed to be made an eight since they considered her vitiligo a deformity. Aliah simply smiled as the majority of the crowd were asking her to perform one of her songs from her last album - Lightning.

Aliah was positively overjoyed when her name was called on by Sophronisca Prada. Since that night last week, her last two albums' sales have sky rocketed and her songs have been playing on the radio more frequently. Everyone basically was listening to her, and the media was sending her image through a tail spin - the past week has been wickedly good for Aliah Michonne.

"Lady Aliah, would you be willing to perform? The crowd seems quite eager to see you perform live." the governor, Janice Belcourt, whispered as the chanting of the crowd got louder. Aliah simply gave a smirk as the governor had offered her the microphone, and she gladly took it. Aliah was known for her ability to hype crowds up with her upbeat songs and incredible people skills, so this was basically a cake walk for her.

"Are you ready Belcourt?!" she started off, raising her voice - the tone slightly different than her speaking voice , her stage persona beginning to take Aliah's place on stage as the music of her song began to play. "Get ready for AJ Olympia!" she yelled before the bass of the song dropped.

" _You were the light-light-lightning; electrical, cynical, powerful."_ she sang as the crowd cheered on. " _I still can feel you in my veins, the scorch marks still mark the pain."_

With the crowd already being so hyped, Aliah began getting closer to the crowd, high fiving the lucky people who were close enough to the stage. Everyone's phones were whipped out as they took videos and pictures of her performance, Aliah's smile growing wider at the thought of her social media presence becoming even more pronounced.

" _You were the lightning, I was the tree. The fire you started burned the best parts of me."_ She ended as she struck her fist in the air feeling glorious in her post performance rush as everyone in the crowd chanted her name. "Let's give Lady Aliah a round of applause for her performance! A truly talented young woman!" the governor announced as she escorted her down the steps to where her aid - Luis- and her family was waiting for her.

Before she could hug her brother, she could feel tears forming in her eyes, but she willed the tears to go away. She hugged her aunt and uncle, thanking them for everything they've done for her and her brother after their parents died.

"Always remember to pray and thank God for the blessings he has granted you, Aliah." her Aunt Selma reminded as she gave her a kiss on the cheek.

"I will, Aunt Selma." she said, Selma took a tissue from Aliah's aid and dabbed the edges of her eyes.

She moved on to hug her brother - Carter- while Aliah kept the strong expression she'd been wearing for the farewells. If there was one thing she hated the most, it was saying goodbye. "You're gonna win, AJ. I know it!" Carter spoke as hugged Aliah tightly. "You're the fiercest one there."

"I think the prince is going to love your sassy personality the most, AJ." one of her closest friends- Polly DeVelvis- whispered through her ear as they tried to attempt a hug with Polly's pregnant belly in the way. "Don't forget to call me when the baby pops out , Polly. You don't want your child's aunt to not know!" Aliah reminded squeezing Polly in the hug.

"Of course, I wouldn't want you to miss a thing, AJ." her brother grinned as he hugged both Aliah and Polly, then giving Polly a kiss on her forehead.

"Lady Aliah, it's time for us to go now." Luis interrupted as he loaded her suitcase into the car.

" _I think it's time for you to find some mouth wash._ " she thought, not letting the remark past through her lips. Aliah simply smiled, waved at the crowd and photographers, and got into the car, headed to Dakota International airport.

* * *

 **Francesca Jane Kelsey, 19, Caste 2, Bankston, Lieutenant General in the Illean Army**

 _With the information my troops and I have collected ,General Lamarque, I strongly believe that rebel activity in Bankston is one of the lowest in the country. However, recounting from a letter sent to me by Lieutenant Daniels from the eastern coast (specifically the Red Zone) - there is reason to believe that-_

"HEY FRANNY! What are you writing over there?" an extremely loud voice practically screamed at her ear. From the moment she had stepped into the airport, Francesca knew that Billy was a literal oxygen thief.

Francesca subtly rolled her eyes as Billy leaned over to read the report she was writing. "DEAR GENERAL LAMARQUE," Billy started off.

"Billy! Do you think we can talk later? I'm still really busy with work right now." Francesca subdued her irritation, trying to tolerate Billy's ability to half-scream everything she said.

"I don't know why you're still working, Franny! We're heading to the palace! We're going to be treated like princesses! I don't know why you're wasting your time with all of this!" Billy protested as she took the seat facing Francesca. They were flying from Bankston to Angeles, a flight that had an estimated duration of 4 hours, and the pilot had already announced that they were landing in about a few minutes.

Francesca was riding with three other Selected - Billy Driver from Ottaro, Kaya Seabrooks from St. George, and Katerina Theodopolis from Baffin- the two other girls haven't really spoken to her, choosing to rest during the majority of the flight.

"Well, Billy, as it is so obvious, only one of us is going to be princess- and I'd like to retain my rank as Lieutenant General after the competition is over." Francesca explained as she compiled her papers in her bag and took a sip from her coffee cup- coffee was the only thing helping her stay awake.

"Aren't you rich?" another voice joined into the conversation, Kaya from St. George. "I saw a talk show on the television saying that you're one of their picks to win - with you coming from a super rich family and all- and with everyone in your family being attractive. I'm kinda surprised how you're not married or engaged like your sisters. " she added.

Francesca almost blushed at the thought of being a bet to win the competition - if it weren't for the mention of her family's status and the comparison to her sisters. "I guess I have different priorities." Francesca shrugged as the stewardess instructed them to buckle their seatbelts. Kaya simply nodded back as she went back to watching the movie playing on her screen.

They landed smoothly and quicker than the estimated 4 hour duration of the flight. The stewardess asked if any of them wanted any refreshments before they exited the plane- none of them really bothered with the offer. When the plane's door was opened, the four girls were greeted with silence as they walked through the jet bridge to a set of doors guarded by security personnel.

"You're the last ones to arrive." one of the guards said.

When they opened the doors, the ear shattering sound of hundreds of people waiting to see the Selected reached her ears. Below them was a set of stairs and a terminal with golden carpet laid out and lined with coordinating rope and barriers, people pressing against each other to get a better view of the Selected.

Billy was the first to head down the steps, quickly rushing to greet the crowd. Kaya and Katerina quickly followed, leaving Francesca alone on the top part of the staircase. Though she was not accustomed to greeting large crowds, she took a breath and simply smiled and waved to the crowds. _Smile and wave._ She thought as she reached the bottom of the steps and got a closer view of what were on these peoples' signs.

Numerous names were sprinkled in the crowd, a lot of Stephanies, Danielas, Ellas, and Rylises in the mix, though she noticed that her name was on quite a few of the signs. Francesca saw Billy having a ball with the crowd , taking pictures and signing autographs with practically anyone who asked for it, Kaya matched Billy's enthusiasm while Katerina left early to the car.

Francesca couldn't help but compare this to some of the movie premieres she had attended with her father when she was much younger. He made quite a name for him in Hollywood, and she couldn't help but recall the flashes of cameras and the screaming of fans that matched her current situation. She decided to follow his way of speaking to fans, shaking their hands, high fiving them, all the while trying to smile for the cameras.

Some of the people in the crowd thanked her for her service in the military. Several little girls even tried to salute her at the same time - like a tiny platoon. Francesca couldn't help but smile and salute right back at the little girls. One little boy said that he wanted to be just like her and join the military, that earned him a "I'll expect you to join the draft when you're old enough soldier." from Francesca.

Several middle aged women mentioned how much they adored her sister, Athena Kelsey-Newsome, in one of her more older movies. Another mentioned her other sister- Mackenzie- and was dying to know if she knew what exercise routine she followed to keep her body so supermodel-esque.

The most surprising greeting she had was from a frail old man that took off his cap when he shook her hand.

"I was under your grandmother- General Lyssandra Kelsey- when I served under the military, owe that woman my life." he spoke in a strong voice. "She is one heck of a woman!" he added.

"She sure is, sir." Francesca replied as he let go of her hand, her smile quite wide at the mention of her grandmother. She took a glance at the other girls, wondering if they already went in the car, only to see Billy on the other side of the gold carpet. That's when she saw one of the security personnel, a red bandana tied on his arm instead of the regular purple ones majority of the personnel had, on the other side of the carpet and barrier pull something out of his coat that glinted in the fluorescent light of the airport, and headed to Billy. It only took a second for Francesca to realize what it was. _It was a gun._

She quickly bolted to Billy - mentally thanking herself for wearing a pair of flats rather than Mackenzie's suggestion of high heels- and headed for the man. She had to do something, because from the likes of it, Billy was his target.

"Gun!" she screamed as people gave confused looks at her, her voice drowned out by the cheers of the crowd. She saw the man close enough to Billy for a clean shot - it wasn't hard to miss , not with the kind of gun he had- a SIG P210, a gun Francesca owned herself. The gun was held close to his rib cage- majority of the crowd not noticing it.

She couldn't jump over the barrier, so she resorted to tackle Billy to the ground as the shot rang out in the crowded terminal. Billy was under her in shock, realizing the gravity of the situation.

"Kingdom come razed!" the shooter continuously screamed as the rest of the security had tackled the man down and the crowd had magically parted like the red sea for them to drag him away. Francesca stood and held her hand out to Billy, who was sitting up on the ground recovering from her shock. She may have been annoying, but at least she was sweet in an annoying way.

The crowd was stunned silent at the assassination attempt, everyone staring at her and Billy on the ground. This time, Francesca wasn't so sure with what to do. After all, they never really had " _What to do after foiling an assassination attempt_ " in military school.

The silence was broken by the clapping of hands behind Francesca, making her look back to see the old man with the cap clapping, everyone else in the terminal joining in. Someone started to chant "Lady Francesca" as she noticed the other security personnel rushed to the two girls, one of them gripping Francesca by the shoulders and began walking them outside.

"Lady Francesca," one of the personnels said as they made their way out of the doors towards an ambulance.

"I do not need any medical attention." Francesca spoke as she looked down to her shoulders and saw the stain of blood on her white jumpsuit.

"Lady Francesca, you've just been shot in the shoulder."

* * *

A/N: Thank you for reading this chapter! I've decided to start giving out fun facts about the story at the end of every chapter!

Fun fact: Percy was originally named Anthony in my first drafts of the story but was later scrapped for his current name!

Thank you for reading and for the support, be kind to one another!

 _Next on the Queenstrial: The Makeovers!_

~*Sparky Out*~


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Okay, so something happened to and I couldn't see any of my reviews for a while so my apologies if I don't mention you in the acknowledgment part of this A/N. Okay, so my apologies for only updating once this week but hey, at least we still get an update ... ayyyy? This chapter is kinda just for exposition purposes and the feel of the chaos in the Women's Room so yeap, just really to push the story further. My apologies if it isn't a really exciting chapter. Check out the Queenstrial pinterest board for extra stuff I pin for chapter references!  
**

 **I realized that it's finals week in some of your countries and let me just tell you that you have the ability to pass your exams with flying colors! You go pass and excel in your exams! :D Break a Leg~!**

 **My special thanks go out to alexiaroosenhaan, New Prussia, Ruby Casablanca, Cookiedoodles168, and princessgothicfull for taking the time to review the story! Your reviews and comments on the story mean the world to me~ :D**

 **The characters in this chapter are Gwendolyn Mae Bailey (submitted by jenhen48) and Ella Blaire Dehmle (submitted by Scarlett Brinnley Brookson).**

 **Enjoy~!**

* * *

 **Gwendolyn Mae Bailey, 18, Caste 4, Zuni, Exercise Rider/Farm Worke** **r**

"You know, Lady Gwendolyn, the Prince specifically likes the scent of lavender." Yara, her maid,spoke as she was painting her nails a bright turquoise color.

"Lavender?" Gwen asked, an eyebrow being raised.

"Yeap. I've only been here for three years, but before the huge rebel attack here, I used to help keep his room. He always asked for us to spray lavender there." Yara spoke a matter of factly.

"Your hair looks much better now, Lady Gwendolyn." one of her other maids- Laura- spoke while curling her deeply red hair with an iron. Gwendolyn snickered as the memory of how her maids reacted to the state her hair was in when she arrived here in the palace- faces full of sheer terror and panic as they quickly rushed her to the nearest station with conditioner in the Women's Room.

"Well, I bet it'll frizz less now that I'm here in Angeles, not as hot here as Zuni." Gwendolyn remarked as the two maids continued to give Gwendolyn her make over. She took a peek at her mirror looking at her polished looking appearance- her make up was already finished, except for her lip color since she hadn't made her mind up yet on which shade she wanted to use. Her farmer's boots were tucked in front of her while the turquoise polish on her toes dried with an electronic dryer at her feet.

One of her other maids, Farrah, rushed towards Yara and Laura when they were putting the finishing touches on her. Farrah looked frantic as she whispered to Yara, who then whispered to Laura, then Laura went to rush to the maid in the next station who was working on petite blonde who was fidgeting with the robe they gave her. Gwendolyn recognized her as Stephanie Romilly, her name was quite popular among the signs back in the airport.

"I heard that you work on a farm," Gwendolyn started off trying to make some friendly conversation with the girl. "I work on a ranch in Zuni, usually with the horses." Gwen smiled.

Stephanie lit up when she heard the word horses. "Me too! I'm a Seven, so working as a farm hand seemed like a default for me." Stephanie shrugged. "I love caring for them, such cute creatures." she smiled.

"I know! They're just so good and majestic!" Gwen agreed, mirroring Stephanie's smile. "I'm Gwendolyn Bailey, from Zuni." she introduced.

"Stephanie Romilly, from Bonita" she replied as one of Stephanie's maids pulled down the pins in her hair to let her blonde hair fall in ringlets around her face. "Lady Stephanie, we're going to get you in your dress now." one of the maids said as Stephanie stood up, an expression saying "See you later?" on her face.

Gwen simply nodded with a smile as she saw the tiny girl follow along her maid.

"Lady Gwendolyn, we're done with your hair and nails now. Would you like to pick your lipstick now?" Yara asked as she opened a box full of lipsticks , lip liners, and glosses. Gwen's eyes widened at the assortment, never seeing such a huge collection of lip products in her life. There had to be at least two hundred kinds of product in the box.

"Where do you even get so much product?" she asked, her hand hovering around the nude shades of the collection.

"Well, Princess Elsa has been an endorser of a number of make up brands here in Illea and Europe. The brands sent some of their products here especially for the Selection, as well as a couple of care packages for you." Yara explained as she took out a few shades out of the box. "This brand is one of our make up sponsors for the Selection, actually." Yara added as she tapped a small liquid lipstick bottle with the name "Paige Prada" on it. Gwen recalled Paige being the youngest sister among a Reality TV Show Family, who's hit it big in the make up business.

"What color were you thinking of, Lady Gwendolyn? All of these formulations are matte, so any of these would look great on you." Yara asked as she held out four kinds of shades of lipsticks: a dark chocolate brown color, a pale pink, a mauve-y nude color, and a deep scarlet red.

"Could I try each one?" Gwen asked, not exactly sure which shade looked best on her since she never really liked lipsticks. Yara simply nodded and took out the designated lip liner and began testing out the brown one first. When Yara finished lining it and applying the liquid lipstick, Gwen felt the odd sensation of the lipstick drying on her lips. Gwen rubbed her lips together and shook her head at the color, not exactly loving the extremely dark color against her red hair.

Yara proceeded to take a make up wipe and clean Gwen's lips and repeated the process all over again with the nude and the pink liquid lipsticks, but she didn't really like either color, not exactly loving the way they made her skin look paler or how neither complimented her eye make up. Gwen felt hope slipping from her when Yara tried applying the red lipstick on her.

After Yara applied the lipstick, Gwen was surprised to see that the dark red lipstick seemed to compliment her red hair perfectly. Not only that, but it made her stand out even more. "This, this is the color." she smiled as Yara placed the lipstick down, and began touching up her make up, a few strokes of bronzer and highlighter to liven up her face.

When Yara was finished, Gwen was amazed at how she looked. It was still her, but more polished. Her hair was shorter than it was before since they took 6 inches off, and the way her hair was curled and her lips were colored just seemed to make her stand out even more among the other Selected. Yara interrupted her as she turned the dryer off and helped Gwen out of her chair.

"Lady Gwendolyn, let's get you into your dress, shall we?"

* * *

 **Ella Blair Dehmle, 16, Caste 4, Labrador, Personal Stylist and Boutique Attendant**

Ella was positively giddy when her maids showed her her collection of dresses to wear for the Selection. She stood in front of a rack full of dresses with her name on it, a week's worth of dresses just for her.

"We suggest one of your shorter dresses, as of the moment, Lady Ella." Monica ,one of her maids, spoke up as she gestured towards the shorter dresses she had requested. Ella's eyes scanned the rack, pulling out a cream colored day dress and a short backless day dress that reached just below her knees, evaluating which one would look better on her.

Noticing that most of the Selected were wearing cream colored dresses, Ella handed Monica the cream dress and held the black one against her in front of a mirror. The dress was actually quite short compared to most of the dresses, but that only made the dress more appealing as it made her stand out from the other girls. Knowing that it was one of the more recent trends among the really huge fashion houses, Ella knew it was a good choice to ask for something made out of velvet to keep up with the trend, along with rows of ruffles that flared from her waist that made it look a whole lot girlier.

Ella had been too excited about the dress-wearing part of being Selected, and even more giddy when it came to the thought of make overs. She had been expecting this huge reveal, with the cameras focusing on her and her looking like a model straight out of Primadonna Magazine. When her maids turned her around to face the mirror, mere minutes before picking out her dress, Ella was actually really disappointed.

Her maids actually did make her look pretty; they waxed her lip, covered her in lotions that smelled like mint, got rid of her split ends (she didn't even know they were there!), but after all that, Ella was kinda shocked to see that not much had changed about her. Her hair was six inches shorter, and the stylist didn't really do anything to change her hair color. However, after seeing a lot of girls look incredibly different after their make overs, the make over was a minor let down for Ella.

"Lady Ella," Monica interrupted her train of thought as she guided Ella back to her seat, "I just have to fix your hair and I believe that we can finally get you into your dress." she said as she began sliding a few hair pins in her hair.

"Oh okay, great. Thank you!" Ella smiled as Monica made fast work on her hair, and she was left to look around the madness of the make overs. There were at least 20 stations like the one she was currently sitting in, and most of them were surrounded with maids and stylists alike yelling at each other.

"How did you manage to dye her hair silver? Wasn't she a brunette before?"

"She looks like she's stuck in a duck face!"

"I didn't know clownish was a trend this year."

"Is she supposed to look like a princess or a five year old's doll?"

Looking further around, Ella noticed at least three camera men trying to record most of the action going around them., though they looked thoroughly confused as a girl with a clipboard ran around to keep up with them. One of the camera men approached Ella's station as he hovered over Ella and then focused on her face. Not exactly sure with what she was supposed to do, Ella smiled and gave a wave at the camera as the camera man moved on.

"Let's get you into something more formal, shall we?" Monica softly spoke as she stepped back from Ella, allowing her to admire the handiwork on her hair. It was an updo, little ringlets of hair falling out of a low messy bun with little tendrils of hair framing her face. Ella gave a curt nod as Monica lead her out of her chair to a small curtained room and carried her black dress behind her, along with a pair of four-inch black heels. Monica quickly got Ella into her dress and heels, as someone on the other side of the other side of the curtained room yelled them to hurry up.

As they made her way out of the room, Ella was surprised to see that the person on the other side of the curtain was one of her other maids, Ursula, who was bringing a small tray of jewelry as they rushed her back to her station and fixed some parts of her hair that was ruined when she placed on her dress. As Monica was tending to her hair, Ursula offered Ella the tray of jewelry.

Ella took her time to choose, ending up with a pair of silver drop earrings and a few stackable diamond rings. Ursula nodded at the choices and handed the box over to another maid. As her maids finished her look up, a camera man and the young woman with the clipboard approached her.

"Hello," the girls greeted though her eyes never quite left the clipboard, "Lady Ella of Labrador." she continued as she flipped through several papers and finally made eye contact with her. "We're here for a short interview about your make over. So let's make this quick since I have 12 other girls to talk to," she spoke with both assertiveness and tiredness as she placed a hand on her hip.

Ella was intimidated by the girl and simply nodded as a response.

"Alright, first, do something while the camera is filming you, like look at the mirror and fix something." the girl said and nodded at the camera man to start filming. Ella, not exactly sure with what she really supposed to do decided to fix a ringlet that fell out of place as she felt painfully awkward with the camera so close to her face.

"Here, we have Lady Ella Dehmle of Labrador, checking out her new make over." The girl announced as the camera filmed her, Ella fixing a baby hair that flew out of place.

"So Lady Ella, welcome to the Selection! How has your make over gone so far?"

"I think my maids have done really well. I mean, check out how great they did my eye make up!" Ella laughed as she looked down so the camera man could zoom in on her eyes.

"They indeed look great with those baby blue eyes, Lady Ella. You seem to be enjoying yourself a lot.. How has this experience been so far?"

"It's been a wonderful experience so far and everyone in the airport was so friendly! The people of Angeles seem to be really welcoming." Ella chimed as she remembered the huge crowd that gathered at the airport.

"Well, here's to you having more wonderful experiences here in Angeles. Thank you for your time, Lady Ella."

* * *

A/N: Thank you for reading the chapter! Feel free to leave any reactions or comments in the review section~ Again, I love your feedback, even if it's just a few words~ :D

Question time: Would guys prefer shorter chapters and frequent updating? (Like a 1.5k+ chapter every three days?)

Trivia time: I usually listen to Les Mis songs when I'm writing this story. (Blame Enjolras if we end up with a french revolution in this story) Another Trivia is that Quincy aka the Selection Planner does not work alone... His partner in crime? Well, you've just met her in this chapter *winks*

Thank you so much for reading guys! Be kind to one another~

 _Next on the Queenstrial: It's a Mystery_

~*Sparky out*~


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Sorry for the extremely late update everyone! How does a musical about an illegitimate orphaned son of a Scotsman, dropped in the middle of a forgotten spot in the Caribbean, by providence, impoverished, in destitution, turn out to be one of my fav productions? (see what I did there? :D)**

 **Yes, I** **'m talking about Hamilton and after listening to its soundtrack, I've been obsessed! I have to express how lucky we are to be alive right now~ XD**

 **I know I've been gone for a bit- I've recently started taking the Senior High School Program, and it's kinda a mandatory program that prepares students for college- kinda equivalent to first year college, really. So I kinda took an unannounced hiatus since most of my time has been taken up by my studies, anyway I'm back with this cbapter which I hope you guys would enjoy!**

 **Anyway, I would like to thank the following for reviewing recently: New Prussia, alexiaroosenhaan, GreenWithAwesome, jenhen48, Cookiedoodles168, and wolfofstark.**

 **I know you guys wanted to know what happened to Francesca so I hope this chapter answers some of your questions. Just for clarification, the last chapter was set earlier in the day, while what had happened in the airport occurred sometime in the last afternoon. I kinda used this chapter to establish a few parts of Percy** **'s past that might seem interesting, as well as setting up the upcoming events of the story.**

 **Enjoy~**

* * *

 **Prince Percival Finnley Lombard, 21, Caste 1, Angeles**

Percy decided hiding from the Selected through the secret passage ways was actually a good idea. Quincy and Thalia literally pushed him into one when the first batch of Selected arrived from the black zone, and well he's been using them since the morning to get around the palace.

He found it hard to believe that this was happening all over again. A little over a year and a half ago, he thought one of the girls in the palace was to be his bride. He hid in his office as he tried to go over every girls' form. Heck, he even made a few index cards to help him with friendly conversations, and which girl had the best standing or was the preferred pick among his advisers but it never did quite prepare him to meet any of the girls the last time.

With a walkie-talkie and ear piece that allowed him to communicate with Miranda, Quincy, and Thalia, Percy was certain that the plan to avoid the Selected was going quite well. Percy tried to enjoy the walk he was taking in the greenhouse, as much as one who was walking with a dog could.

Mario, a french bulldog, was Percy's emotional support dog. He was a gift from his mother a year ago, after the doctors had suggested a dog to help him with his PTSD. Mario did help alleviate some stress, and the bad dreams had lessened. It also helped that Mario liked to scooch in bed with him and lick his hand when the dreams were worse than his usual ones.

His PTSD was a known fact in the palace, to the country even, though no one really spoke about how he came to develop it. Illea did not want to talk about their prince whose mind is tortured by moments during an attack on the palace.

They wanted to talk about the heroic prince who fought in the Battle of Casa against the French Conquest Organization when he was only 16. There, Percival was among the bayoneteers that prevented the French Conquest Organization's plan of colonizing the small nation of Andorra and stopped them from gaining an access point to Spain.

Who sends a sixteen year old to war you ask? Certainly not Queen Hanna Beth Schreave.

She sent him to the war front in Spain when he was 14 years old.

He could still recall the day when his mother called him to his office, six feet and three inches of limbs he didn't know where to place, his mother comforting Elsa as they were informed of the attack on the French royal family: how the heir to the French throne, Lucas, was taken hostage and murdered in front of the rest of the family.

From the information sent to him from their spies in France, King Gautier, Queen Mackenzie, and the rest of the royal family whereabouts' were still unknown to that day.

From that day seven years ago, Illea and Spain- France's closest allies- had declared war against the French Conquest Organization in the name of the Sauveterre family and France. It was the least they could do for France, an ally that aided them long before they called it Illea and the country was still considered a colony of England.

Percy did not have many memories of the French royal family, only glimpses of blonde hair, pink dresses, and the story of how the French Monarchs always seem to get kidnapped.

Mario interrupted the sudden blast from the past as he yelped at him. Percy led the dark colored dog outside to the gardens to make their way back to the palace. He knew that the palace was much more secure now, his mother and him had made sure that security measures in the palace were tripled, but it didn't stop the slight anxiety he had every time he and Mario went outside. He always felt the need to be more vigilant when he was outside, especially when everything felt so serene.

He was greeted by the guards standing by the west wing entrance, a curt nod from the two stationary figures as Percy entered the library to take the passage way to his office on the third floor. The walkie talkie beeped as Quincy's voice called out to him, just as Percy made it to the third floor.

"Prince Percy, I need you in the Queen's office." Quincy said as he heard the breathy pants on the other end of the line. Percy felt his heart drop down to his stomach at Quincy's urgent tone, his feeling of anxiety coming back. He immediately grabbed Mario and began running to the secret entrance of his office, scrambling towards the door as he ran across the hallway to his mother's office.

Percy burst through the doors to see one of the head guards talking to someone on his ear piece and the Queen staring intensely at the wall with her hands knit together. Quincy was already half-yelling instructions in his earpiece and walkie talkie.

"Quincy, tell me what happened?" Percy said, his voice sounding panicked, as Mario was still held under his arm. He feared the worst, like one of the planes crashing and taking all the girls with it, or a shooting at the airport- Percy knew that it was a perfect opportunity for enemies of the crown to try and get get him. He tried to convince his mother that a crowd at the airport would spell disaster for them.

"There was a shooting," the guard spoke up, "the Selected from Ottaro was the apparent target, but another Selected had pushed her away." the guard's tone eerily calm despite the circumstance of the situation.

"W-Was anyone hurt?" Percy could never forgive himself for another Selected dying because of him. He already had the blood of three on his hands. Another soul lost because of him was just a confirmation that whatever deed he did, it never went unpunished.

"The one who pushed the Selected out of the way sustained a light graze on her shoulder. No one else had been hurt in the attempt, your highness." the guard assured.

"Who is the one that pushed the girl out of the way?" Hanna Beth asked, a mixed expression of worry and calculation on her face.

"The representative from Bankston, your majesty; Lady Francesca Kelsey." Quincy spoke as he took a folder out with the name "Kelsey, Francesca Jane" and a picture on it.

"She's a lieutenant general," Percy murmured as he scanned through the information gathered about her. "No wonder she'd throw herself in front of a bullet for someone else."

"Where are the representatives from the yellow squad?" Hanna Beth asked as she took a look at Francesca's picture.

"Two representatives are currently undergoing make overs- they were at the car at the time of the incident- the representative from Ottaro has just left the hospital wing and is unharmed, however she has told us that she would like to leave. Lady Francesca is currently at the hospital wing where Doctor Grey is giving her a few tests." Quincy reassured before yelling out, "Thalia, don't you yell at me like that! It's not my fault you hired that stylist! Just change her hair back to brown, god damn it!"

Percy almost smiled at Quincy's outburst, if it weren't for the fact that one of the Selected just got shot.

"My apologies, your highnesses." Quincy breathed out while the guard had the ghost of a smile on his face. "What do you suppose we do, your highness?" Quincy added.

"Well," the Queen started off as she took a sip from the mug on her desk, "there will be no covering up this." she said as she looked straight at the guard and Quincy. "The crowds in the airport would have dozens of videos capturing what happened. Percival, what else must we do in situations like these?"

Percy knew that the next words he was going to say have weight, especially since his mother has been more open to Percy being more hands on in the state of affairs as of late.

"We must announce what happened before tabloids and online news articles start up a firestorm. We should announce it tonight on the Report, clarify the story. We control the spread of the story." he declared as he gently placed Mario on the ground and took the seat across his mother.

"And what about your 34 other guest? Wouldn't they need to know?"

"Quincy, let Thalia and Miranda gather the girls to be briefed about what will and has happened. We should begin teaching the girls basics on how to defend themselves."

"Officer Flanders, I want you to give notices to Vice Admiral Baudin and Officer Battacharya that the training will begin the day after tomorrow."

"Very good, Percival. Quincy , Officer Flanders, carry out the orders Percival had discussed. You are dismissed." Hanna Beth nodded and the two quickly left the office, the sound of the door shutting echoing through the room.

"As for you Percival, I want this girl to be your first date for this Selection." she said with a smirk.

Percy sighed as he bent down to pick up Mario and place him on his lap. "You're going to have a lot of press for it, won't you?"

"It only makes sense. It's just going to show everyone against us that we will not be fazed by attacks like these." Hanna Beth said as she stood up and walked around her desk to scratch behind Mario's ears.

"It doesn't hurt that her background is one of the best among the Selected. I want you to go to the hospital wing and visit her."

"You're telling me to break protocol?" Percy asked, raising an eyebrow. "Isn't that a little unfair to the other Selected?"

"I'm just suggesting that you check on her, thank her for her bravery, maybe some flowers..?" Hanna Beth added a hinting tone.

"I suppose you're favoring this Selected, aren't you?"

"Percival, she is a lieutenant general! You should be fascinated by that!"

"I am, but mother, it is against protocol." Percy retorted. Leave it to his mother to act giddy and sorts when she finds a potential wife for him, even if he had 34 other choices.

"Then I rule an exception. Now go, hospital wing. A butler is waiting outside your office with some flowers for the girl." Hanna Beth replied as she pushed Percy to the door, Mario still in his arms, and shut the door in front of his face before he could say anything else.

His mother was right, a butler was outside his office with a lavender bouquet of flowers in his hand. The butler quickly scurried to him and handed him the flowers ,as Percy had placed Mario down, with a mumbled "An order from the Queen, Prince Percival" before bowing and quickly walking away before Percy could thank him.

Mario yelped as Percy guided the small dog with his left hand, while trying to balance the bouquet in his right hand, the scent of lavender crawling up his nostrils. Percy decided walked down to his room as he pushed a part of the decor on his wall to open the passage way that lead to the east wing of the palace where the hospital wing was situated.

* * *

A/N: Thank you so much for reading this chapter! I hope you guys are still going to follow my updates on this story even if it isn't as quick as it was before!

Question Time: What would you guys like to see in the next chapter? Would you like it to be another Percy POV chappie?

Thank you so much for reading again guys, and don't forget to review~! Be kind to one another!

 _Next on the Queenstrial: It's another mystery!_

~*Sparky Out*~


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: I've been holding out from publishing this chapter for the past few months because I had wanted to post it when my summer began, but my summer begins at the end of the month so I decided to just publish it after I got my creative juices flowing again (since I had added more stuff to this just a few hours ago XD). Anywhos, if any of you still have dress ideas/boards for your characters on pinterest, I'd still love to see them! If you're not added to The Queenstrial board on pinterest, please do not hesitate to find my account "thesparklyjewel" and feel free to post stuff on the board. I actually have a separate private board that has a lot of the references/rooms for every chapter so go crazy in the group board. (I also still do not understand pinterest group messages, but I'm gonna try and opening up one for the Queenstrial people for like discussions and stuff- or usual crazy conversations XD)**

 **Without further ado, I'd like to thank alexiaroosenhaan, Cookiedoodles168, GreenWithAwesome, xxScarlett (how was Hamilton?), wolfofstark, MABubbles (thank you so much for reading and getting interested!) and ShaelynnSophia (welcome to the world of the Queenstrial!) for reviewing the past chapter(s)! You guys are my heroes for actually sticking with me and my erratic update schedule.**

 **We get to finally meet a few characters whom I wanted to write in since the start but never found the right time to put them in- so I'm really excited to see what you guys are gonna think. I'm gonna stop talking now, but anyways…**

 **Enjoy~**

* * *

 **Isla Caballero, 19, Caste 4, Professional Traveler, Dominica**

"I love your dress," Isla saw a blonde girl in a flowy white dress sitting across her say.

"Thank you," she smiled back as she smoothed out the flowy pink dress she wore. "I'm Isla Caballero, from Dominica." she introduced as she offered her hand.

"Rylise Hopkins, Denbeigh." she beamed, "So, what did you do before coming here?" Rylise asked as she shook her hand. Isla liked the presence she had, taking a mental note to stick around her during her stay in the competition.

"Well, I worked for my father and I usually looked for goods around the world for him. You could kinda say that I'm a professional traveler." Isla explained.

"You're so lucky!" Rylise exclaimed as she moved to the seat beside her. "This is actually the first time I've left my province. You couldn't imagine how terrifying my plane ride was." she added. Isla was amused by the statement, recalling the first time she had flown on a plane. Just as the conversation was picking up the pace, two girls Isla was already quite familiar with, Isadora LaRoux and Daniela Cortéz

"Isla Caballero!" yelled the taller girl, who was wearing a silly-looking lilac colored gown, the skirt looking too long for the extremely tall girl. Daniela coyly waved as she watched Isadora run towards Isla. Daniela wore a dress that was the polar opposite of Isadora's- a muted earthy green dress, which matched the calm aura that surrounded the wearer of such dress.

Isadora and Isla were the life of the group they were traveling with from Southern Illea- so the two girls hit it off right away. Daniela also was part of the small group from the south, though she always lent an ear to Isadora and Isla babbling about the most random things in their extremely different lives.

Isadora immediately raised her fist just above her waist, forgetting the protocols of being in the palace, but Isla immediately indulged by bumping her closed fist to Isadora's. "Hey there, Isa!" Isla smiled as Daniela reached the small group forming. "Rylise! This is Isadora and Daniela, the three of us came from Southern Illea!"

"Nice meeting you guys." Rylise beamed towards the two girls, extending a hand towards Daniela. The sound of a clearing throat disrupted the small reunion.

"Okay Thalia, before you push us into another room…" Isadora rambled before turning around to see not Thalia, but Duchess Miranda behind her.

"I'm so sorry for interrupting you all but the Prince has ordered an immediate meeting of the Selected here in the women's room." Miranda took a pause to look at the continuing chaos of the Women's Room, the sound of Willow Jones screaming her head off as she clutched the gray strands of her previously brown hair, "If you four would follow me, I'd be able to fix all of this." Miranda continued as she moved towards the eye of the Women's Room, where Thalia Calligaris stood, clipboard on hand and screaming at her walkie talkie.

"Thalia, dear, I believe it's best to gather the Selected right now. It's time for the orientation." Miranda practically sang at Thalia.

"Duchess Miranda, I don't think now's the best time to orient the girls right now. I have a Selected who needs to be a brunette again, one who's begging me to go home, and another in the hospital wing sustaining a bullet wound on the shoulder." Thalia spoke through gritted teeth. Isla and the three other girls with her held back a gasp at the news of a Selected with a bullet wound on her shoulder.

"You're kidding me." was all Rylise had to say.

"What do you guys mean someone got shot? It's the first day of the Selection, for heaven's sake!" Daniela remarked.

"Didn't Quincy tell you? Quincy told me right away, after Percy and Aunt Hanna Beth told him to." Miranda asked, an expression of confusion and concern.

"Might have slipped my mind, when the gray haired Selected was screaming in my ear."

"Just tell everyone to stop what they're doing and just gather the 34 Selected here." Miranda shrugged. Miranda may have portrayed as some airheaded debutante in the papers- but Isla somehow knew in her gut that Miranda was just playing the press the way she wanted them to see her- Miranda was smarter than most people thought of her to be.

"It's too crowded and chaotic in here, Miranda." Thalia said, gesturing yet again to the mess of the Women's Room- which earned another exasperated sigh from the Duchess.

"Fine." Miranda said, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Let's take them to the West Wing Library- it was used to hold the Selected of Eadlyn Schreave and Kerttu Schreave de Koskinen"

"How did you even know that?" Thalia asked, an eyebrow raised and a smirk on her face.

"Please, Thalia." Miranda rolled her eyes with a similar smirk, "everyone knows that I was obsessed with the Selection when I was a child. I would have gotten away with having one in England too, if Uncle Xavier didn't get me tied with that Australian Prime Minister's son."

"Now, let's get these girls to the West Wing Library."

* * *

 **Percival Finnley Lombard, 21, Caste 1, Crown Prince of Illea, Angeles**

Percy lightly knocked on the door of the private hospital suite where Lady Francesca was confined in. Percy tried to recall some things he had read on Francesca's file on the way there- he remembered her military experience, a well-known family, and how her sisters were married to well to do counts from Europe.

Percy was waiting for Francesca to invite him in, but after a minute of waiting for her answer, Percy had knocked again.

No answer.

Perhaps she was asleep, he wouldn't blame the girl for taking some shut eye after what she's been through. He could just leave the flowers with a note for her- and spare himself the awkwardness of a meeting that shouldn't really be happening if not for the interesting circumstances they both were placed in.

Percy then took hold of the doorknob and twisted it, expecting to see a girl asleep. Only to see said girl, pouring herself over papers on her desk, while sitting in bed.

"Like I said, I do not require anymore water, food, or assistance. You can tell the doctors that I am healthy enough to join the rest-" Francesca spoke as she tucked in a certain paper inside a folder and then looked up, eyes widening in recognition of who exactly she was speaking to. Percy took in her features in person. She looked tired, but she really was quite pretty with her steely blue eyes. Her caramel colored hair was tied back in a low ponytail as she looked at him, shock lingering in her eyes.

"Well, I'll take that in mind, Lady Francesca." Percy said with some humor in his voice, walking towards her bed, wanting to put the girl at ease.

"I hope that you're feeling better, I've brought you some flowers to brighten up your room."

"Thank you very much, Prince Percival. I'm flattered." Francesca said as she slowly took the flowers from Percy, the steel in her voice a little gone, in exchange of a lilt of awkwardness.

"Just call me Percy; Percival sounds too hoity-toity for my taste." Percy noted some of the documents she was working on: a letter to General Lamarque and several reports on the rebel activity in the eastern coast of Illea.

"You're still working?" Percy meant for it to sound declarative, a description of the current actions of the girl, but it came out more like a question with the raise of pitch of his voice- a little confused with why someone, who supposedly isn't supposed to be working because a) she got shot in the arm, b) she is in his Selection and shouldn't exactly be worried about work, and c) SHE GOT SHOT IN THE ARM.

Francesca gave Percy a confused look back at him, as if saying only with her eyes: "Of course, I'm still working, what else can I do here?" That's when Percy noticed that Francesca always tended to hold eye-contact with him, and that's also when Percy had noticed the blueness of her eyes, though it looked more grey in her photograph and dulled out by the state her eyebags were in.

"Well your highness-" Francesca spoke.

"Percy…"

"Right, Percy. I'm not exactly the kind of person who's used to bed rest." She corrected herself as she leaned back against her bed.

"I guess that would seem normal, what with your military background. Thank you for your service by the way, _Lieutenant General Kelsey_." Percy said as he took the seat by her bedside to be more eye-level with her and unbuttoned his suit jacket in the process. "I'd also would like to thank you for foiling the attempt on one of your fellow Selected. That was very brave of you."

"It really was nothing, your highness. It's part of my duty to serve and protect and part of my miltary training." Francesca replied, a certain gleam in her eyes shining through.

"It was nonetheless extremely brave- you saved that girl's life. I've spent some time with the Illean Military myself, stuff there's crazy- especially in the Andorran-front. Have you ever been stationed out of the country, Lady Francesca?"

"Can't say I have, I've been stationed in Bankston for most of my career."

"Bankston, now that's a cold province. Definitely a change of scenery between Bankston and Angeles." Percy spoke as he realized that he had almost forgotten why he was there with Francesca in the first place. "I understand that you're currently in bed rest," Percy took an audible gulp, the first date always tended to be one of the most awkward to ask first. He recalled his first date with one from his past one, ending at a bit of a disaster when she had fainted in the duration of the date- still Eliza had lasted until the Elite.

"But, perhaps, if you were discharged from the hospital wing within the week…" Percy paused. "May I please take you for a walk around the palace?"

It was Francesca's turn to get slightly frazzled, a light blush creeping up her cheeks.

"Of course, it would be an honor to, your highness." Percy had noticed that Francesca wasn't holding eye contact with him.

"Great, I'll just send a note to you after you're discharged from the hospital." Percy spoke as he stood and buttoned his suit jacket again. "I hope you'll enjoy the flowers, Lady Francesca, and please don't hesitate to ask any of the staff for any assistance."

"Will do, your highness. Thank you."

"If you'll excuse me, I will have to oversee a few matters to be handled, what with today's events. Rest well, Lady Francesca."

* * *

Percy walked out of the hospital wing with a giddy feeling, having already accomplished one of the tasks he had set out for him. Now that he was able to meet Lady Francesca, Percy had high hopes that he'd get along with the Selected quite well. Just as he made it closer to the main stairwell, the device in his ear had beeped with Quincy's voice addressing Percy not with his codename.

"Percy, can you hear me?"

"I won't address you if you don't call me by my codename, and won't say 'over' at the end of whatever you say. Over."

"Calling Atlas. This is Hermes, do you copy? Over. " Quincy, who had picked the codename Hermes, spoke through the piece.

"Atlas here. I copy. What do you need? Over." Percy said, pressing a button on the side of the earpiece, stopping in his tracks as he spoke to Quincy.

"Baudin and Battacharya are ready to meet the Selected, your Highness. They're waiting just outside the Women's Room. Over."

"And the Selected?"

"They've just been gathered in the West Wing Library-"

"The old one where Eadlyn Schreave's Selected stayed? Over."

"Yes, that one, your Highness." Quincy confirmed before following with an over.

"You know Hermes, it's actually named the 'Koskinen Library' but I have no idea why people call it the West Wing Library." Percy shrugged as he started walking down the stairs. "Anyway, just get Baudin and Battacharya outside the Koskinen Library and I'll meet them out there. Over."

Percy then walked down the steps down to the first floor as he turned the corner to get to the Koskinen Library. Percy sighed as he made his way to the library, honestly so tired of the workload he's had with this particular Selection. As he rounded the corner of the Koskinen Library, he saw two figures standing together clad in two very different uniforms outside. Vice Admiral Adelheid Baudin stood tall with her blonde hair slicked back into a bun, her green uniform looking cleanly pressed. Beside her was Officer Naveen Battacharya of the Indian Army and was animatedly talking to her. From the looks of it, Battacharya was back to his old ways of trying to win over Adelheid's affections. Oh, if Percy could go on and on about their relationship. Being Percy's closest friends from when he used to fight against the French Conquest Organization, he knew that no two people could teach the two better than Naveen and Adelheid when it came to self-defense.

"Your Highness, thank you for inviting us." Adelheid greeted with a bow as Percy nodded in reply.

"Percy's just fine," he added as he acknowledged Naveen bowing. "Thank you for agreeing to help teach them." He then shook each of their hands.

"It's a particularly good idea with the state of the world. I mean, Illea's facing threats from the Rebels and from the French Conquest Organization. I wouldn't be surprised if we had another war in our hands." Naveen said looking at Adelheid.

"Oh trust me, Naveen, it's happening. It's only a matter of time before it all goes to shit." Adelheid added. "But before that happens, we have to make sure, Prince Percy is to find a wife."

"Yes, that is at the top of my list right now." Percy smirked as he heard the voices of the group of girls talking from just behind the door. "I'm actually supposed to meet them tomorrow, but given the circumstances- I think it's best that I speak to them about the incident with Lady Francesca and Lady Billy."

"Ah, an unfortunate incident indeed with what happened in the air port. Those Illean Rebels are getting more stealthy than I thought." Naveen said, straightening his jacket. Adelheid looked at Naveen with a raised eye brow.

"Which is exactly why I want to take the right measures to ensure the safety of my Selected. An army of guards won't just cut it, they need to learn how to defend themselves in case of an attack."

"Shall we?" Percy said as he turned the door's knob and entered the Koskinen library, seeing approximately 34 sitting silhouettes watching a large projector screen set up right in front of them within the darkened room. It was a compilation of footage of what happened earlier that day playing on the news. There were footage of plane rides and send off ceremonies, Percy noting little details among the girls and how they interacted with the crowds. He watched one of them do an impromptu concert, another blowing kisses at a crowd, another timidly smiling towards the people in the square. The footage then cut to the make overs, the cameras catching the girls getting ready and prepped.

Before Percy knew it, he then saw his mother on the screen announcing the more alarming thing that occurred that day. Her eyes were directly looking at the camera as she spoke about how brave a girl like Francesca must have been and how lucky they were that there were no casualties among the Selected. Hanna Beth then explained how this could have happened at such a high security event.

"The gun man was a rebel who was deeply part of the structure of the air port security. He was a very respectable member of the Civil Aviation Authority, but there must have been rebels who had convinced him to turn on one of the Selected. This is no cause for alarm, but I do have to remind you to be vigilant. These rebels are the ones that had attacked the palace nearly two years ago, all they care for is destruction and their own personal agenda of hate and their unquenchable thirst for power. Please report to any official if you see any signs of suspected rebel activity." The projected version of Hanna Beth said before turning to Sophronisca. Sophronisca then picked up the rest of the Report and reminded everyone about the make over special that would be airing the next week.

Someone had turned the light back on and Percy's eyes teared up at the sudden change of light. It took a while for Percy to blink through the tears and to see Miranda standing in front of the Selected while Thalia and Quincy stood right behind her.

"Well, if the Report has not made it clear for you, one of the Selected was a target of the rebels before she even stepped foot in the palace." Miranda spoke, her blue eyes possessing a look that reminded Percy of his father for just a moment- it was a look his father often used to intimidate people, a look that allowed his father to command a room.

"Living in this palace is going to take more than just a pretty face to survive it. My cousin is in need of a wife who is willing to put her life at stake not just for him- but for your country." Miranda paced down a clear aisle that parted the Selected in two. Percy was thankful to have Miranda around, watching her try to whip the girls into the shape they needed to be in to live in their world.

Serious as she was speaking to the Selected, her face softened when her eyes met Percy's. "If you don't want to hear it from me alone, I believe Percy has a few words for all of you." Miranda stepped aside from her spot in the front of the Selected, indicating to Percy that the floor was his.

Percy raised himself to his full height, watching the Selected's reactions to seeing him for the first time. A few of the girls' jaws had dropped when they saw him take a place beside Miranda, just watching in disbelief. A few merely smiled and curtsied, giggling at him. The familiarity and the alienity of the situation made a shiver go up Percy's spine, memories of his first Selection coming back. If he didn't know any better, it was like he was back to two years ago when he first met Zam. _Breathe_. He thought to himself as he felt his heart beat a little faster. He opened his mouth to find the words he was supposed to say- but his mind had blanked out.

"Ladies, it is a pleasure," Percy's voice cracks as he tries gets his bearings again, "It is a pleasure to be meeting you all tonight." He cracks a small smile, a way for him to convince himself that he actually has himself together for this.

"I do not want to be keeping you all in the dark about what has happened today- which is why I made sure that all of you knew what had occurred in the airport a few hours ago. Honesty and transparency is an important thing I uphold, and I only do hope that you respect me enough to be honest with me." He continues to say as he tries to make eye contact with a few of the girls. He recognizes a few from their forms like Daniela, Rylise, and Ella.

"I will make it clear that this Selection will be putting your life in danger- more danger than it probably would in your everyday lives. My family-" Percy takes a glance at Miranda, "and those connected to me" his eyes dart to Naveen and Adelheid who were joined by Quincy and Thalia, "are targets of not only local rebels but as well as those part of the international terrorist group: The French Conquest tomorrow, each of you will be receiving special self-defense training if ever you are put into a situation that would endanger your lives."

"I assume that Thalia and Quincy had gone over the rules of the competition with all of you- but I offer another. The final say belongs to me, but I will not be forcing you ladies to stay here if it is not your choice- knowing the risks of being in this competition. If any of you feel like you do not wish to participate in the Selection, I will allow you to leave as soon as possible."

"But before that, allow me to meet each of you before anyone tries to leave." Percy smiles as he approaches the first row of seats to his right. One by one, he approaches the Selected and kisses the back of their hands, introducing himself and themselves before he moved to the next. A few of the girls makes an impression on him, like Thema with a sense of confidence that drew Percy to her, Ella with the smile in her eyes, Stephanie and how unevenly matched their heights were, Isadora and how she nearly matched his height in heels, and Gemma and how fluidly she curtsied.

Time came that he had met all the girls, he asked the question again. "Does anyone here want to leave? If so, please come to the front." There was a silence that followed, no one wanting to make a sound.

To his surprise, Mattise had walked over to the front.

"Your highness," Mattise had strutted over to Percy in a teal trumpet gown, her dark hair pushed back to one side. "you asked for my honesty and this is it. I do not want to put my life in danger, especially if I know that I can't have feelings for you." Percy nodded his head, waiting for Matisse to continue. "I just got engaged the same week I was announced to be Selected, and I don't want to leave my fiancee for too long."

"Thank you, Lady Matisse. I will see to it that you leave with enough security back to your home. Congratulations on the engagement." Matisse smiled as she curtsied and went back to her seat. "If Lady Matisse is the only one who would like to leave as soon as possible, then I won't keep you any-"

"Prince Percy!" he heard a particularly nasaly voice shout, and a figure in the back jump out of her seat in a bright yellow gown. "I want to go home too." It was Billy Driver.

"Me too," Willow Jones and Jolie Fisher accidentally said together, both standing at the same time.

"And me," stood Katerina Theodopolus, her blonde hair pulled back though she still wore her glasses. Two more girls stood up and announced that they had wanted to leave, as well. Percy had counted that seven girls currently wanted to leave, which was surprising that one-fifth of his Selected had wanted to leave not even after a day in the competition. He guessed that his welcoming speech was a bit to heavy, but it was something that came from his heart. He didn't want to keep a girl within the Selection, endangering her life, if she didn't want to.

"Thank you ladies for your honesty, you each will be leaving Angeles first thing in the morning after breakfast, please take your seats." Percy nodded at Quincy, gesturing him to bring Naveen and Adelheid to the front with him.

"For those who remain, our personal interviews will begin tomorrow after breakfast, where another round of elimination may follow. In the afternoon, you will begin your self-defense training with these two people." Percy explained as Naveen and Adelheid stood at his sides. "This is Officer Battacharya and Vice Admiral Baudin, two specialists I have enlisted to teach you. Anything to say to girls?"

Naveen and Adelheid step forward, nodding in courtesy to the girls, it is Adelheid who opens her mouth to speak. "We expect perfect attendance and punctuality in our lessons. You come on time, we end on time. I hope I've made myself clear." Adelheid commands before stepping back and giving the floor back to Percy.

"Tomorrow is the beginning of the competition, I hope you all rest well." Percy tries to close his little speech but it feels like he still has so much to say in that moment. He feels like there's so much to be said to these girls but there's an ache in his bones that makes him want to crash in his bed and sleep with Mario in his arms as soon as he left that room. He follows his instincts and decides to end the night.

"Good evening, Ladies." Percy greets before bowing just a bit before he makes his way to the door, leaving the Selected in the hands of Miranda and the rest of the team.

* * *

A/N: Thank you so much for reading and reviewing! All thoughts and comments are appreciated.

Question Time: What order should Percy meet the Selected in in the next chapter? (Alphabetically by Province? By Name? Maybe in reverse Alphabetical order?)

Thank you for reading! Be kind to one another~

 _Next on the Queenstrial: The One-on-One Interviews!_

 _~*Sparky Out*~_


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